However, the Metaverse, that digital universe promoted particularly strongly by various companies in the technology sector, notably Meta, the parent company of social networking giant Facebook, does not have the favor of almost half (45%). Video game developers interviewed.
The poll in question, conducted annually by the Game Developers Conference (GDC), was conducted among “more than 2,300” game developers, according to the soberly titled State of the Game Industry report.
The document also points out that the metaverse suffers from several problems, particularly to represent… nothing concrete.
“People tending to sell it have no idea what it is, and the same goes for consumers. Remember what happened to video games in the cloud a decade ago and what’s still happening? ‘ we read in the document.
We also mention the high cost of the equipment required for access, usually at least a virtual reality headset and sometimes even a powerful computer connected to viewing the digital environments.
Not to mention some other specific topics including optimization, better business strategies, etc.
But if the Metaverse as a virtual construct doesn’t really seem to interest game designers – just under 14% of respondents believe that Fortnite, developed and offered by Epic, could achieve that holy grail of an online world that brings all interactions together – it doesn’t the industry does not want to turn to virtual reality.
In fact, when asked about a multiple-choice question, 39% of developers said they were interested in Meta Quest, Meta’s virtual reality headset. The soon-to-be-launched PlayStation VR2 headset collects 35% of responses, while the Valve Index, marketed by the giant behind the Steam platform, draws interest from 24% of respondents.
Also in the list of virtual or augmented reality platforms on which the developers “next game” should appear, the Meta Quest is at the top with 36% of the multiple choices. In this case, however, the “other” answer, which is not the various meta projects, the PlayStation headset, the Valve index, or even other platforms such as Google’s or even Microsoft’s, collects 46% of the choices .
The PC in the lead
Despite years of rumors about the demise of the personal computer as a gaming platform, the reality is very different: According to the GDC survey, more than half (57%) of future titles will be either PC exclusives or part of a cross-platform release.
The PlayStation 5 comes second with 33% of the answers on this multiple choice question, and the Xbox Series X and S get 28% of the results.
The top two mobile operating systems, Android and iOS, are a close second with 25% and 24% of choices, respectively. Nintendo’s Switch console fared less well, with just 19% of the choices.
Buyable games still have a bright future ahead of them
Skepticism about the Metaverse, popularity of the PC… Traditional methods and platforms still seem to have the wind in the sails of video game developers. Another proof: half of them still use a classic business model, which is to charge for the download of a game in advance.
However, the portrait is somewhat more differentiated, especially since the respondents were again able to select several answers for this question about their current project.
36% of developers also mention games that can be downloaded for free. After that, things get a little more complicated: 25% mention additional paid content and updates, while 21% are more likely to suggest making everything available for free; 23% of the projects would also include in-game items to be purchased with real dollars, while 19% of the developers mention in-game currency to be purchased.
Additionally, 10% of respondents are considering a model based on in-game advertising, while 9% will instead use subscriptions like Microsoft’s Game Pass.
Finally, the blockchain, this concept that aims to revolutionize the financial world and the digital universe, but which above all has made it possible to accumulate massive fraud, emit large amounts of greenhouse gases through the “mining” of cryptocurrencies and crash the course that the latter continues to excite opposition from more than half (56%) of developers…an opinion they say hasn’t changed since the question was last polled. Conversely, almost 12% of those surveyed were in favor of it and remained so. 5% of respondents have changed their mind and no longer want to use blockchain in their game, while the opposite attracts only 2% of participants.