Is the loading bar in games actually fake?

In almost all games, loading bars are fake and do not really reflect real progress.

According to Rock Paper Shotgun, comedian Alasdair Beckett-King jokingly suggested that game developers make loading bars move at a uniform speed. In response, some developers said that the loading bar in games is almost always fake and has nothing to do with real progress.

“Fun thing: players don’t trust a smooth loading bar. The stutters and pauses show you that the load is ‘biting’. I’ve worked on games where we artificially faked it,” wrote Mike Bithell, Game Director of John Wick Hex and TRON: Identity.

Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail confirmed his words and noted that he also made fake bars in games.

“I have never worked in a game that didn’t sport a fake loading bar. Real ones induce anxiety,” said Raúl Rubio Munárriz of Sexy Brutale and Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story studio Tequila Works.

Former World of Warcraft game designer and Riot Games MMO producer Greg Street clarified that he literally wrote something like “Now get to 20%” in the code.

Interestingly, some developers add a loading screen even when it is not needed in the game. For example, Vladimir Bogdanchik, an employee of the Croatian studio Under the Stairs, said that he had to add a fictitious loading screen to his game Eyes in the Dark in order to smoothly transition from the start menu, despite the fact that in fact the loading took place instantly.

Only the creator of Lemmings and the developer of Grand Theft Auto, Mike Daly, said that he only implemented smooth loading screens.

“Probably because I've always hated the windows ones, where it'd sit for ages at like 20% then jump to 100%,” he said.