Many game developers hate NFTs, too

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When they were announced, the NFTs received a critical reception.

The image is from Ubisoft.

Video game NFTs have been a topic of debate. The developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl decided to cancel the game because fans didn't like their NFT plans. Video game fans are skeptical of the new technology, but many game developers have similar feelings according to the Game Developers Conference annual survey.

The survey said that a few people thought that the future of gaming would be NFTs. A vast majority of respondents spoke out against both practices, noting their potential for scam, overall monetization concerns, and the environmental impact.

How this has not been identified as a pyramid scheme is beyond me.

Many quotes from developers were not nice. One wrote, "How this hasn't been identified as a pyramid scheme is beyond me." One person said that they would rather not endorse burning a rainforest down to confirm someone has a jpeg. They should be burned to the ground. Everyone involved in them should be banned. I am quitting my job at an NFT company to get away from it.

Not all of them were critical. One positive response called it the wave of the future. According to the survey, 70 percent of respondents said their studio had no interest in NFTs, which could mean that we won't see a lot of gaming NFTs in the near future.

The survey shows that there is growing support for unionization in the industry, a topic that has come to the forefront as workers have protested at companies such as Vodeo Games. Fifty-five percent of respondents said game industry workers should unionize, the highest amount in the 10 years the survey has been conducted, and 23 percent said talks about unionizing have happened where they work. Only 18 percent of people think the industry will unionize, but 36 percent think their companies are in favor of union talks.

According to the survey, studios have a lot of work to do to combat toxicity. Only 38 percent of respondents said their companies reached out to them to start a conversation about how to handle toxicity in the industry. The company responses were called "tepid lipservice" and "woefully inadequate" by the respondents. Developers feel more work needs to be done even though some of them had positive things to say about their company.

The conference is still going to be in person.

The survey is two months ahead of the conference. The event is still scheduled to take place in person from March 21st to the 25th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The company that organizes the Game Developers Conference is committed to having an event in person as long as it is safe, according to the VP of media and entertainment at the company. If an initial completed vaccine took place before September 14th, 2020, attendees will need to get a booster shot. Attendees will have to wear a mask.

The last time there was an in-person GDC show, there were 29,000 attendees. The DICE Summit is still scheduled to take place in person in February, but E3 won't be in-person this year.