Game Devs Remain Skeptical About Metaverse and Blockchain Projects

Game developers are more skeptical of metaverse and blockchain projects, according to a new survey by the Game Developers Conference. From a report: 'So much happened during 2022 for ups and downs, and I know crypto had a lot of issues mid year as well,' said Alissa McAloon, publisher of Gamedeveloper.com, in an interview with GamesBeat. She noted it's not surprising to see the hype die down. In that respect, the skeptical view of the metaverse and blockchain is not so different from the view of virtual reality, after skepticism set in after a few years of hype. 'A lot of developing technologies have ebbs and flows and then we see where things settle after the fact. VR is a good indicator of that,' McAloon said.

McAloon helped figure out the questions for this year's survey to make sure that the report zeroed in on key questions. She said some of the questions were open-ended so that developers could offer more nuanced answers. She said that blockchain technology appeared to be highlighted as having some use, but exactly what that is isn't clear. Developers pointed to Fortnite as likely metaverse winner, though many remain skeptical that there will be a metaverse at all. When asked which company is best positioned to deliver on the promise of the metaverse, Epic Games/Fortnite earned 14% of the vote, the highest of any individual company.

Next was Meta/Horizon Worlds and Microsoft/Minecraft (at 7% each), Roblox (5%) and Google and Apple (3% each), with VRChat and Nvidia also receiving some mentions. However, developers remain wary. Nearly half (45%) of respondents didn't select any companies/ platforms, instead stating that the metaverse concept will never deliver on its promise. This number is up from 33% in 2022, with many of the responses from this year specifically citing the unclear definition of the concept, the lack of substantial interactivity and the high cost of hardware (VR headsets in particular) as barriers towards sustainable metaverse experiences.

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