The metaverse has been much hyped over the past year. But finding that same enthusiasm among game creators—the people often tasked with building it—is tougher. According to the Game Developer Conference’s (GDC) State of the Game Industry 2023 report, which surveyed over 2,300 game developers, game makers don’t believe in the promise of the metaverse. They don’t put much stock in blockchain technology either.
Game developers believe that the metaverse, blockchain, is fake
The gaming industry can be opaque to onlookers, as employees are bound by non-disclosure agreements and hold company secrets close to their vests. The GDC survey is an annual look at what game makers are thinking. This year, 39% of respondents identified as working for an indie studio, while 23% said they worked for a major studio.
The most likely candidate for metaverse ambitions is Epic Games’ Fortnite, according to 14% of respondents. Meta and “Minecraft” received 7% of the vote each. “Roblox” received fewer votes by 5%. But despite these mild votes of confidence, 45% of respondents — a majority — believe that “the metaverse concept will never live up to its promise.”
An anonymous respondent, whose response represented a common perspective among developers, explained the skepticism: “The metaverse promise, as it stands, is nothing. Those trying to sell it have no idea what it is, and neither do the consumers. Do you remember what happened and continues to happen with cloud gaming a decade ago?”
The survey did not indicate whether the 45% who were skeptical of the metaverse were also employees who had to work with metaverse-related products, the survey’s organizers told The Washington Post.
“I don’t think the data goes that deep, I’d love to know that personally,” said Alissa McAloon, publisher and editorial director at media outlet Game Developer, which collaborated on the report.
Developers were also asked about blockchain technology, another hotly debated topic in the gaming industry. Only 2% of developers said they were already using blockchain technology, while 75% said they were not interested. When asked if their opinion of blockchain technology in gaming had changed over the year, the majority (56%) said they still disapproved compared to a year ago.
The majority of respondents believed that the trend of consolidating companies, such as Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, will have a negative impact on the industry. Only 17% thought consolidation would benefit the industry, while 44% thought it would have negative effects. An anonymous respondent wrote: “Big companies are getting bigger. More homogenization. Less originality. But hey, I guess Banjo-Kazooie can show up in ‘Guitar Hero’ now.”
Support for trade unions across the industry has remained steady. About 53% said gaming workers should organize, while 13% said they shouldn’t. The survey also asked workers if they or their colleagues have discussed unionization in their company, to which 22% answered yes. Developers who had 15 years of experience or less were more likely to support unionization than those with 16 or more years of experience. Those with 30 or more years of experience were the least likely to support a union.
The industry has also been affected by the “great layoff,” or the trend of people leaving their jobs in 2022. About 36% of developers have considered switching companies, and 81% of those said they were considering it for better compensation.
Developers were also asked about being harassed by players, and 91% of respondents agreed that player harassment of developers was a problem.
“Gamer harassment and toxicity is not a new problem in the gaming industry,” McAloon said. “But a trend we saw last year is studios speaking out and supporting their developers who are being harassed by community members.”
The Game Developers Conference takes place in San Francisco from March 20 to 24.
