The two-dimensional silver screen and its relationship with the audience informed all the filmmaking conventions, including sound design in screen-based cinema. In 360-degree cinematic virtual reality (cine-VR), these two references no longer exist. The viewer is part of the virtual world and can decide where to look and interact with the cinematic world. This unique feature of cine-VR presents new possibilities and challenges. Hence, all filmmaking conventions, including sound design, require rethinking. Despite scholars’ growing interest in sound design for immersive experiences in cine-VR, the studies still need to be expanded. Understanding different users’ perspectives is necessary to develop the guidelines and framework of sound design for cine-VR. An online survey was conducted among film students, film professionals, and others with different experience levels in cine-VR. The survey aims to understand how those involved in filmmaking and viewers see the role of sound design in cine-VR and how it compares to traditional cinema. These perspectives can guide the ongoing development of immersive sound design language for the medium. The questionnaire included closed and open-ended questions to understand participants’ detailed responses. This work-in-progress paper analyzes the responses to close-ended questions only by the first 122 participants. The Key findings indicate that while sound design is considered equally important for both cine-VR and traditional cinema, it plays a more critical role in cine-VR for creating immersion, directing viewer attention, and crafting realistic spatial audio. We plan to do a detailed thematic analysis of open-ended questions and a comparative analysis of each group’s response in the future. As a relatively new format, perspectives from film practitioners and viewers can provide valuable insights into practical approaches and methods to sound design for cine-VR.