In the digital age, user feedback is a strong force, driving game developers to undertake significant changes. Cyberpunk 2077 saw user feedback change the AAA title from a buggy mess to the current definitive edition on your Steam library. Thus, modern gamers have the power to change games for the good.
Structured user feedback, especially when taken to heart by the developers, can be useful in changing games to support and retain gamers. This blog will explore that concept, as in, how you have the power to innovate gaming.
What Are User Feedback Loops in Gaming?
Without player feedback, would game development be complete? In this evolving industry, collecting, understanding, and acting on player feedback is essential in creating a game that will be well-received. This is how the user feedback loop is defined.
To explain how a user feedback loop works in gaming, the following chart can help:
Figure 1
Alt Text: The User Feedback Loop
The user feedback loop has become synonymous with the game development life cycle now. Most game releases soon follow up with immediate patches and updates. The process does not end with design, testing, and release; now, updates have also become crucial in the game development process.
Even the updates in your rummy game have been dependent, to a certain extent, on the player reviews on the app.
Types of User Feedback in Gaming
User feedback is essential to game development, which has been established. However, how is the feedback collected by the developers? There are two ways in which developers collect player feedback:
Direct: In-game survey prompts, developer surveys, and questionnaires.
Indirect: Player reviews and online forum discussions.
These are ways the developers gather feedback, and in many modern games, these feedback loops have brought major changes.
Which Major Games Have Undergone Innovation Driven by User Feedback?
Have you ever noticed that the rummy app you play on has undergone a major update based on some user reviews left on the App Store? This is an example of games undergoing innovation driven by user feedback.
Many notable games have undergone significant changes, most of which have led to a drastic positive shift in player responses to these games. Some of the following are the most notable examples in the gaming world:
Fortnite: Player feedback has massively shaped the evolution of the game. Epic Games, Fortnite’s developer, used frequent user surveys, which led to changes such as a significant improvement in the user interface, changes in gun balancing, building mechanics, and so on. Player inputs have also been crucial to the seasonal release content in the game.
Minecraft: Minecraft has been a game whose development has been shaped hugely by user reviews and feedback. Minecraft has an official feedback website, where players can leave feedback that the developers take into account. User reviews have led to frequent updates in the game, leading to new blocks, items, and biomes.
Warframe: Warframe is a game that is completely community-supported, and the developers are continuously evolving the game based on received user feedback. From bug fixes to new content, the game’s updates are significantly dependent on player responses.
Valorant: Much like Minecraft, the Valorant developers directly addressed the player base through a series of blog posts under the tag “Ask Valorant”. This led to the game receiving a massive update with changes to agent balancing, map design, behavior detection, and penalty systems.
What Do Developers Use to Gather Player Feedback?
As already mentioned, developers can gather user feedback either through direct or indirect routes. Now, what are the exact methods that game developers apply to gather the relevant user feedback data that can be used to make necessary changes to the games?
In-game analytics: Developers gather data on the player’s behaviour in the game, which can include player heatmaps, rage-quit data, or the hours a player has spent on a game.
These provide the developers with the idea of which maps players spend the most time in, how many players have rage-quit due to difficulty or other issues, and overall hours logged in by the player base. This analysis further helps developers understand what is working and what needs to be changed.
Social listening: With large sections of the global population being on social media websites nowadays, these platforms can be a great source of discussion on games, especially new releases. Twitter, Discord, and Twitch chats offer the developers great insights into how well their games are performing.
Post-game surveys: Online surveys are held by either the developers or the publishers of a game released, which ask the users simple questions regarding their reception of the game’s various aspects, upon completing the game.
You might have experienced something similar in your rummy app, where, after a game, you received an automatic survey notification asking you some questions.
Closed beta and early play testing: Many developers even bring the gamer community into the development process through closed beta testing or early play tests. This way, if the game has any bugs, crashes, or gameplay issues, the developers can fix them before the final release.
Now that some of the modern systems that developers use to gather user feedback have been discussed, how have these evolved from the traditional systems? A comparative outlook can help this investigation:
Categories
Traditional Systems
Modern Systems
Timeliness
Feedbacks arrive in an interval after release.
Immediate feedback.
Specificity
More generalized.
Detailed and specific feedback.
Scalability
Suitable for a smaller player base.
Can accommodate a larger player base.
Engagement
Players are not engaged in the process.
Players can directly participate in game development processes.
Table: Traditional vs. Modern user feedback systems in gaming
Why Feedback Loops Lead to Faster Innovation
Feedback loops can practically be called the future of user-led gaming innovation. How? There are several ways in which these systems can fast-track improvements in games and create effective and positive results.
The modern game development process does not end with the game’s release. Even after a game releases, most developers continue to support the game with fixes, patches, and updates. This means that the games are receiving continuous feedback, and the developers can work on these user responses post-release.
Two major examples of this are Cyberpunk 2077 and Lords of the Fallen (2023), which have continued to receive developer support for years after initial release to respond to player feedback.
These examples also show how community-driven game development and updates can make players feel like their words hold value and that they become a part of the development process.
Game developers have shown how modern technology can be used positively to create a user-driven industry and support a loyal user base, from AAA games by major publishers to smaller iGames like online rummy.
Summarizing
Game developers who have wanted to support their player base have taken user feedback to heart and created the best versions of their games. Some games even underwent significant innovations due to user feedback. Thus, it can be confirmed that- if you listen, you evolve.
Integrate Feedback Tools in Game Development Today!
If you are a blossoming game developer, seeking to create a game that will be loved by players all over, it is time to include the players in the development process. Include real-time feedback tools and systems into the development process, let the players have a taste, and you might have a masterpiece in your hands!
