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Surveying the Effects of Remote Communication & Collaboration Practices on Game Developers Amid a Pandemic

22 Dec 2022

The IGDA supported a research initiative in 2021 to help understand the impacts of the pandemic on game developers. The researchers have published their results here.

Caravella, E., Shivener, R., & Narayanamoorthy, N. (2022). Surveying the effects of remote communication & collaboration practices on game developers amid a pandemic. Communication Design Quarterly 10(4), 5-15.  https://sigdoc.acm.org/publication/

ABSTRACT
Communication and collaboration are essential parts of the game development process. However, during the global pandemic, the shift to remote work marked a sudden change in how developers
could communicate and collaborate with one another, as usual adhoc conversations that happen in physical offices were nonexistent. Based on a partnership grant study with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), this piece focuses on the results of a survey that examined developers’ mental health and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that most game developers want a hybrid or fully remote position even after pandemic conditions subside. Failure to address the pandemic’s impact on the game development industry risks ignoring a rich area of technical communication complicated by, and responsive to, hybrid workplaces.

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