The impact of Coronavirus on game devs

[Holy Bacchus]

Since all devs rely on the generosity of folks giving what little they can of their paychecks in the form of Patreon pledges, I've been thinking about all the jobs being lost during this Coronavirus pandemic and how this might affect the devs.

In America alone, over 6 million people have filed for unemployment in the last few weeks, the highest number since the great depression. That may be around just 2% of the population of America, but that's only the ones who officially and there may be millions who haven't been able to, and more jobs are still at stake there and all around the world. Even for those who still have jobs or are being furloughed, there could be a collective tightening of belts and those whose income is based on donations from people with more stable income, like devs, could be affected.

There's obviously worse things to worry about right now, but is anyone else out there concerned we might see some devs suffer great losses from this, especially the smaller ones? Any devs out there feeling this concern right now?

 

[tomcire]

It's too early to see a real impact.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

It's too early to see a real impact.

True, but it's the many months ahead that I'm thinking about. Things might seem OK for devs now, but what about 6 months from now because that's when the effects will really be being felt by everyone.

 

[polywog]

With fewer drunk hoes on the street, the need for adult games increases.

 

[Droid Productions]

Anecdotally, from speaking to other devs, the monthly patreon drop this month was higher than usual. It's the first month I've had a patreon, so I don't have historical data to compare it with.

 

[kytee]

Actually, someone should keep tabs on the increase of new users on F95. New users, who've never had the exposure to adult games because of time, pledging to Patreon might balance out the subscriptions lost from people unsubscribing.

 

[Joshua Tree]

On another note. They should have a hell of a lot more time to work on their games being in quarantine. Or at least I suspect majority of them do. Being holed up for to long can give a solid dose of cabin fever. At least they would have something to tinker with...

 

[anne O'nymous]

In America alone, over 6 million people have filed for unemployment in the last few weeks, [...] and more jobs are still at stake there and all around the world.

But it's America. In the rest of the western world, few effectively lost their job because of the crisis. They don't work, earn less, but still are employed and so have a brighter future in front of them. Here (France), most of the country still have an income around at least 85% of his salary (my memory can betray me and it can be a little less) ; it make things hard for those who earn the less, but in the same times we spend way less now that we are limited to what is strictly a necessity.
It's less certain outside of western countries, but to be honest USA is the only country where there's a shitty employment system and where people globally earn enough to spend some spare money on adult games. It doesn't mean that there isn't pledge coming from those countries, but (still globally) people behind them generally have a stable enough and well payed job in their countries and aren't at high financial risk during this crisis.

Even for those who still have jobs or are being furloughed, there could be a collective tightening of belts and those whose income is based on donations from people with more stable income, like devs, could be affected.

While this is true, I think that the effect will be seen only after few months. If you pledge for an adult game, it's because you want to support the dev, and most of them need this support even more now, since he's at best in the same situation than you, and at worse now unemployed. Therefore, if the confinement don't goes further than two months, there shouldn't be big changes in the pledges.
But this is just "at first", because the real problems will only starts after the end of the confinement, when the crisis will stop to be a health one, and become a global economical crisis. For now, in most western countries, the government do its best to support the economy and prevent society to reach bankruptcy. But it will not be possible to extend this support over an effectively long period of time. Therefore, one can still have his job right now, but loose it in, lets say six months, because the restart of economy is too slow and the government can't support it any longer.

There's obviously worse things to worry about right now, but is anyone else out there concerned we might see some devs suffer great losses from this, especially the smaller ones?

I don't worry for the smaller ones. They never earned enough to live from this, therefore whatever how much they'll loose, it will still be a welcomed income.
Those who are endangered are those who make a living from this, but not really much more. They potentially left their job to live of their passion, because they could afford if, having a security net because they earned, lets say 10% more than needed. But now they risk to loose those 10% and even more. They are the ones that can be effectively hit by the crisis, because they effectively depend of the pledge.