Seasoned Game Dev Says Industry Cannot Be Candid Because Online Culture is Toxic

Sometimes, the internet brings out the worst in people. On one end, GameZone wouldn't exist without the internet, but on the other, comment sections on mostly anything result in a cesspool of aggressive and sometimes dangerous comments. But this isn't just us sharing our opinion. Game Development veteran Charles Randall shared his thoughts on the matter last week.

Being a former Ubisoft and Bioware developer, Randall has seen a number of controversies first hand. He explained that when the default response to gaming discussion involves someone in the comment section being overly hostile and engaging in harassment, developers tend not to engage at all outside of the industry.

“The other day a friend commented to me ‘I wish game developers were more candid about development,'” Randall said on Twitter. “He was surprised when I said we are. The caveat is that we’re only candid with other industry people. Because gamer culture is so toxic that being candid in public is dangerous … See any thread where some dumbass comments how 'easy' it would be to, say, add multiplayer or change engines. Any dev who talks candidly about the difficulty of something like that just triggers a wave of people questioning their entire resumé.”

In the end, a game developer doesn't just take a job in the gaming industry. It's almost always a passion of theirs. Being attacked and harassed over something you made out of passion is obviously something one would like to avoid.

“There are still topics I can’t touch because I was candid once and it resulted in dumb headlines, misunderstandings, and harassment. All the stuff you ever wanted to know about game development would be out there if not for the toxic gaming community. We *love* to talk about development, the challenges we face, the problems we solve, the shortcuts we take. But it’s almost never worth it."

He also went on to describe a moment where he met with a kid, around the age of 13-16, who started talking about 'bad things' he'd heard that developers did. Randall tried to explain that "all those things people freak out about are normal and have justifications." He ended by leveling with the community, stating, "“Being critical and explaining why you don’t like something is fine. Dwelling on it, calling out the dev, or just talking shit is not.”"

What are your thoughts? Do comment sections and other feedback mediums get unnecessarily worked up to the point of harassment? It's no debate that it keeps certain developers from talking candidly with the community.