New State Of The Industry Report Reveals Nearly 75% Of Devs Surveyed Aren’t Interested In NFTs

Talk of NFTs, blockchain gaming, and play-to-earn models seem nigh unescapable these days, but it seems developers are still largely against them. 

That’s because in a newly-released 2022 State of the Industry report from the Game Developers Conference (GDC), 70% of developers surveyed said they and their studio are not interested in NFTs. Seventy-two percent of those that answered said they and their studio aren’t interested in cryptocurrencies either, which are often used to purchase NFTs. 

However 28% said they “are at least somewhat interested in cryptocurrency at their studio and 28% are at least somewhat interested in NFTs.” Only 1% of those surveyed said that their studio already uses cryptocurrency or NFTs in their development and game models. This is not surprising, especially if one follows conversations about blockchain gaming in the industry. Due to ongoing environmental harm, NFTs are often viewed as negative. 

The use of cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and the mining of said currencies, results in millions of carbon dioxide emissions, which damage the Earth’s atmosphere. Ethereum, one of the most-used cryptocurrencies, though, is working on something it calls “The Merge,” which it says will “start the era of a more sustainable, eco-friendly Ethereum.” Only time will tell how green Ethereum becomes. There’s also the side of NFTs that feels particularly scam-like in nature, not to mention the dangers of play-to-earn models. 

Elsewhere in the report, GDC says 83% of respondents said they are not involved in metaverse development while 17% said they are already working on a metaverse-related project. The workplace culture issue is another ongoing concern in the industry of game development. While discussions about toxic workplace culture are not new, recent Activision Blizzard reports on sexual misconduct and mismanagement have brought attention to them. 

“This [Activision Blizzard reports of misconduct and more] has started a trend of companies reaching out to address misconduct and toxicity within the game industry,” GDC’s report reads. “At the time the survey was conducted, 38% of respondents said that their companies reached out to them to start a conversation about how misconduct and toxicity are handled in the industry; 62% said their companies did nothing. It is encouraging to see that more companies are taking the initiative to eradicate toxicity in their workplaces. However, this also shows how far we still have to go. When asked about how their company responded, some respondents said their companies held group discussions on misconduct or reminded employees how to report improper behavior.” 

The idea of unionization is becoming more common in recent years. 55% said workers in the gaming industry should join the union, which represents the largest percentage in this poll’s 10 year history. 18% of respondents said that they believe the game industry will unite, while 23% stated that there have been discussions about unionization in their workplaces. 

“The respondents also shared how those companies have responded to union talks with their workers,” GDC’s report reads. “Thirty-six percent reported that their companies were supportive, compared to 8% that said their company opposed the unionization talks. More than one-fifth (21%) of respondents said their companies didn’t know that some of their employees were talking about unionizing.” 

Additional topics like the demand for PlayStation 5 consoles and Xbox Series X/S gaming systems are covered in this report. Read the whole thing right here.