In recent years, developers have faced the challenge more and more harassment and toxic behavior from people who say they love games but seem to be more interested in them by screaming about how lazy the studios are or what In 2024 everything has “woken up”. And a Sony studio developer has a message for all gamers out there, urging them to relax and not assume the worst, adding: “We’re just human.”
While it’s nothing new for people to be shitty on the internet, it’s become more so in the last few years more frequently for developers and people working in the video game industry being harassed or treated badly by angry people, frustrated players or fanatics. This is something we saw again and again. Women and people of color are targeted more often angry players and mobs Spitting insults, insults, threats and other toxic garbage.
In the latest episode of Game file from former My city EIC Stephen Totilo, a developer, had a message for fans about how difficult game development is and reminded them that the people who make your games are human.
“Everything is difficult,” said Ramone Russell, product development and communications strategist for Sony’s popular baseball franchise. MLB The Show. He spoke briefly backstage 2024 DICE Awards.
“And if we haven’t done something, it’s because we haven’t figured out how to do it right. We want to do everything.”
Russell also pushed back against disgruntled gamers who were upset about games including (or not including) certain features.
“No one comes to work in video game development trying to make anyone angry,” Russell said. “We want to give the fans everything, but we can’t.” We have a release date. We have a finite amount of resources. So when we miss the mark, it’s never for lack of effort.”
The developer also made it clear that while the developers aren’t perfect, they work hard to make things you like. So treat them with some respect.
“We’re people like everyone else,” Russell added. “And sometimes we reach that goal and sometimes we miss it. But when we miss the mark, it’s never because we didn’t try hard enough.”
There’s a big difference between criticizing a game, a publisher, or a decision and harassing people. You can’t like the wave of Live service games that have flooded the industry and also feel compassion for the developers who create these games and lose their jobs. You can hate the rise of battle passes and microtransactions without hunting the people behind the game online to stalk and harass them endlessly. Criticism is okay. These toxic assholes who treat developers like shit need to stop.
At the end of the day, all people who do things you like or hate are people who deserve to be treated as such. And while it’s a shame that developers have to keep saying this, maybe after hearing Russell’s words, a few people will be deterred from sending that nasty email to an overworked community manager.
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