  Existing work on personality traits in software development excludes game
developers as a discrete group. Whilst games are software, game development has
unique considerations, so game developers may exhibit different personality
traits from other software professionals. We assessed responses from 123 game
developers on an International Personality Item Pool Five Factor Model scale
and demographic questionnaire using factor analysis. Programmers reported lower
Extraversion than designers, artists and production team members; lower
Openness than designers and production, and reported higher Neuroticism than
production -- potentially linked to burnout and crunch time. Compared to
published norms of software developers, game developers reported lower
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Agreeableness, but higher
Neuroticism. These personality differences have many practical implications:
differences in Extraversion among roles may precipitate communication
breakdowns; differences in Openness may induce conflict between programmers and
designers. Understanding the relationship between personality traits and roles
can help recruiters steer new employees into appropriate roles, and help
managers apply appropriate stress management techniques. To realise these
benefits, individuals must be distinguished from roles: just because an
individual occupies a role does not mean they possess personality traits
associated with that role.
