A survey of 2,300+ game developers: 45% say the metaverse won't deliver on its promise, 53% back unionization, 91% say player harassment is an issue, and more
VentureBeat's annual developer survey lands at a moment when studio leadership and rank-and-file developers are visibly split on where the industry is headed. A year earlier, developers at EA, Zynga, and Ubisoft had already gone public with internal turmoil over executive plans for crypto and NFTs — this survey extends that pattern from one technology bet to several, with 45% saying the metaverse won't deliver on its promise.
Publishers investing in metaverse initiatives now have quantified internal dissent on record — 45% of surveyed developers say the promise won't be delivered — complicating executive pitches that already drew open disapproval over crypto and NFT plans.
Second-order effects
With 53% backing unionization, organizers gain a public data point to cite; two years later the same survey series would record 58% support alongside mass layoffs, suggesting the sentiment hardens rather than fades.
Third-order effects
If the survey series keeps tracking these questions annually, it functions as a standing barometer: platform owners face persistent pressure on harassment moderation, and labor organization shifts from fringe topic to mainstream expectation across studios.
The trend: Developer sentiment surveys are turning workforce skepticism — about metaverse bets, workplace conditions, and player safety — into a measurable counterweight to executive strategy in games.
In lieu of Microsoft letting go of MANY XR employees which is causing Hololens, MRTK, and AltSpace VR to be scaled back/cancelled: I wonder if bringing the Professional/Office Suite to the Meta Quest Pro platform will be cancelled/slowed down too
If you're portraying devs as too dumb to recognize real harassment, you're being toxic. Game devs aren't idiots who cry foul because a player doesn't like their games. We're talking about death and rape threats, and the people making these dumb comments know it too well
@SadlyItsBradley Perhaps, but it could also signal a doubling down on the strategy of trying to dominate the application layer (software). Since XR platforms are likely going to be more open and in the cloud controlling the hardware might not be as necessary as it was for PC and …
These replies lmao. BUT CRITICISM. Let me break it down for you. “I don't like <thing> for <reason>.” = Criticism “I don't like <thing> for <reason> and <developer> should <idea to fix>.” = Criticism “I don't like <thing> and <personally attacking devs> is NOT CRITICISM. https://…
@SadlyItsBradley I'd say that's fairly doubtful as someone who works with MS as a customer, it would be very odd from a corporate perspective to make such a big announcement only to cancel it months later. Especially now that the Quest devices are manageable via MDM through InTun…
@SadlyItsBradley Trying to think of the bright side here, but how about this: Hardware is and has been in a good state for a while. Maybe it's time for software/firmware to catch up.
@SadlyItsBradley I don't think so, most probably the recent alliance with Meta was one of the reasons to start pushing for they own platform. Let's not forget Microsoft vision nowadays is more about services and cloud than full control of ecosystems like it used to be.
@SadlyItsBradley as someone mentioned, opposite is true i think. Meta gets to have their hands/avatars/interaction SDK become the standard, less competition on hardware, and altspace gone. In return, less focus on making Horizon Workrooms Office (allow office 365) and integrate X…
Constructive criticism is a skill that you nurture and improve on as you go through life. Many developers love good criticism! Death threats, harassment, etc. are not and should not be treated as criticism. Calling toxic behavior “criticism” doesn't make it so. https://twitter.co…
LOL The replies proving us right is absolute chef's kiss. “Oh, are the whiny babies considering anything harassment?” So many of you don't even see devs as people. You see us as this vague idea of people who should be treated like shit because YOU want them to cater to your bs ht…
#GDC 2023 State of the Game Industry is here: The #gamedev community weighs in on the metaverse, unionization, player toxicity, and more. Download the free report here. #GDC23 #GDC2023 https://gdconf.com/... https://twitter.com/...
75% of game developers responding to a new industry survey have said they believe harassment and toxic behaviour from players is a serious issue. https://www.vgc.news/... https://twitter.com/...
Who could have imagined that creating online spaces where harassment is the norm would have negative consequences for the culture of those spaces and their relationships to the folks who create them? https://www.axios.com/...
Not surprised by this in the slightest. Game devs have opened the floodgates (which is a whole topic in itself) and now everyone is an armchair dev. How many times have you heard “it's so simple all the devs have to do is...” No no, it's more challenging than that. https://twitte…
More than 75% of game developers are very concerned about harassment from players, according to a new poll I think I first wrote about about death threats against developers in 2012. The toxicity against game makers remains a big issue https://www.axios.com/...