Communication Design Quarterly Dec 2022 Open Access

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

Elizabeth Caravella York University ; Rich Shivener York University ; Nanditha Narayanamoorthy University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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 ad-hoc 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.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2022-12-01
DOI
10.1145/3531210.3531211
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Gold
Topics
collaborative writing technical communication
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Caravella et al. (2026)
    Accessibility in virtual reality: A multimodal user experience framework for co…
    Computers and Composition

References (52) · 6 in this index

  1. AltspaceVR. (n.d.) AltspaceVR beginner's guide. AltspaceVR https://altvr.com/altspacevr-beginners-guide/ Alts…
  2. 10.5749/j.ctt20mvgwg
     ↗
  3. 10.1177/1555412019868381
     ↗
  4. Balisacan M. (2021)
    Game Developers Conference
  5. Bernstein J. (2021)
    Game Developers Conference
Show all 52 →
  1. Cahn N. (2021 February 9). How women can take control in a post-pandemic world. Forbes. https://www.forbes.co…
  2. Colby et al. (2019)
    Game design documentation: four perspectives from independent game studios
    Communication Design Quarterly
  3. 10.7551/mitpress/12484.001.0001
     ↗
  4. 10.5539/hes.v11n2p1
     ↗
  5. 10.2304/elea.2010.7.1.108
     ↗
  6. 10.4324/9781315573243
     ↗
  7. deWinter et al. (2016)
    Games in Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  8. Eyman D. (2016)
    Play/write: Digital rhetoric, writing, games
  9. 10.1108/GM-07-2020-0202
     ↗
  10. Flaherty C. (2020)
    Something's got to give
  11. Finseth C. (2019)
    The participatory culture of technical communication in online gaming communities
    Technical Communication
  12. Greene J. (2011)
    It's all in the game: Technical communication's role in game documentation
    Intercom
  13. 10.1177/1461444820986831
     ↗
  14. 10.1201/9780429280757
     ↗
  15. 10.4324/9780203731260
     ↗
  16. Informa Tech (2020)
    Game Developers Conference. https://reg.gdconf.com/soti-wfh-2020?kcode=BLG_GAMA.
  17. International Game Developers Association. (2020 May 27). Game development crisis conference recap. https://i…
  18. Judge A. (2021 February 8). Could the pandemic make the video games industry even more white and middle-class…
  19. Kerr A. (2021)
    Independent videogames: Cultures, networks, techniques and politics (pp. 29--42)
  20. Karabinus A. (2019)
    Communally designed deception: Participatory technical communication practices in an amat…
    Technical Communication
  21. Kim M. (2021 June 4). Why game delays have gotten worse in 2021 --- and it's not just because of COVID. IGN. …
  22. 10.1111/joms.12648
     ↗
  23. Manivannan V. (2021)
    Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics. Retrieved
  24. Mason (2013)
    Video Games as Technical Communication Ecology
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  25. McAllister K. S. (2004)
    Game work: Language, power, and computer game culture
  26. McDaniel et al. (2016)
    Developer Discourse: Exploring Technical Communication Practices within Video G…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  27. Mozilla. (n.d.) Hubs - Private virtual 3D spaces in your browser. Mozilla. https://hubs.mozilla.com/?utm_medi…
  28. 10.3983/twc.2009.0073
     ↗
  29. 10.1207/S15327051HCI1523_4
     ↗
  30. Plass J. (2020)
    Handbook of game-based learning
  31. 10.1080/15487733.2020.1776561
     ↗
  32. Read et al. (2015)
    Visualizing and Tracing: Research Methodologies for the Study of Networked, Soc…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  33. Readon S. (2001 29 March). Pandemic measures disproportionately harm women's careers. Nature. https://www.nat…
  34. Rule H. J. (2019)
    Situating writing processes
     ↗
  35. Spaulding S. (2021)
    Game Developers Conference
  36. 10.1007/978-3-030-63311-0_13
     ↗
  37. 10.1017/CBO9780511509605
     ↗
  38. 10.7208/chicago/9780226237015.001.0001
     ↗
  39. 10.7551/mitpress/11292.001.0001
     ↗
  40. Tekinbaş K. S. (2003)
    Rules of play: Game design fundamentals
  41. The IGDA (2020)
    GDCC keynote - mental health during crises - game development crisis conference [Video]. …
  42. Thominet (2021)
    Open Video Game Development and Participatory Design
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  43. 10.1145/1496984.1496993
     ↗
  44. Tran M. (2009)
    An ethnographic study of collaboration in a game development team. Loading...3(5), articl…
  45. 10.1007/978-3-319-90539-6_7
     ↗
  46. Weststar J. (2021)
    Developer satisfaction survey 2021: Report on the impact of COVID-19
  47. White S. (2021 June 4). Women in IT are burned out. The pandemic is making it worse. CIO. https://www.cio.com…
CrossRef global citation count: 3 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments Jan 2026
    A Murder Most Technical: Gamification, AI, and Rhetorical Genre Studies in the Technical Writing Classroom ↗
    Justin Cook
    genre theory writing pedagogy service learning teacher development argument collaborative writing technical communication professional writing
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly Oct 2025
    Farm to Forum: Exploring Agritourism as a Site for Tactical Technical Communication ↗
    Beth J. Shirley; Shannon Arnold; Kim Woodring; Dustin Perry
    collaborative writing technical communication
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly Apr 2025
    Beyond Digital Literacy: Investigating Threshold Concepts to Foster Engagement with Digital Life in Technical Communication Pedagogy ↗
    Danielle Mollie Stambler; Nupoor Ranade; Daniel L. Hocutt; Stephen Fonash; Jessica Lynn Campbell; Ann Hill Duin; Isabel Pedersen; Jason Tham; Saveena (Chakrika) Veeramoothoo; Gustav Verhulsdonck
    writing pedagogy collaborative writing threshold concepts technical communication professional writing digital rhetoric literacy studies race and writing
  4. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2024
    An Experience Report on the Opportunities and Challenges of a Community-Engaged User Experience (CEUX) Pedagogy for a Masters-Level Course ↗
    Sidouane Patcha; Sarah Read
    writing pedagogy collaborative writing technical communication
  5. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Sep 2024
    The Evolutionary Convergence of Technical Communication and Translation: An Integrative Literature Review of Scholarship From 2000 to 2022 ↗
    Giuseppe Palumbo; Ann Hill Duin
    collaborative writing technical communication qualitative research book reviews