Do Devs Know What Gamers Want?

tim-cain game-development player-feedback game-design developer-perspective

Abstract

Problem: Do game developers actually know what gamers want from their games?

Approach: Tim Cain gives his blunt, unfiltered answer as a veteran game developer, drawing on decades of experience reading player feedback and comment sections, referencing his own videos on encumbrance, fast travel, game difficulty, and game options.

Findings: Developers genuinely do not know what gamers want — but this is largely because gamers themselves don't know, can't articulate it clearly, and fundamentally disagree with each other about what makes a good game.

Key insight: The lack of consensus among players is the core problem — for any given feature, some players refuse to play games without it while others refuse to play games that have it, making it impossible to satisfy everyone.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA-P3p7PdEc

The Short Answer

Tim Cain's immediate, blunt response: No. Developers don't know what gamers want. He almost made this a YouTube Short — just the question and a one-word answer — because that really is the core of it.

Why Developers Are Confused

Players Only Say What They Hate

Many players only tell developers what they don't want. They'll say "I hate this feature" or "I hate these characters," but never articulate what they actually want instead. If someone hates sarcastic characters, there's an entire realm of non-sarcastic characters — but do they want funny characters? Serious ones? Characters with deep backstories? Characters with minimal dialogue? Telling developers what you hate doesn't help them know what to build.

Feedback Is Extraordinarily Vague

Even when players say what they want, it's often uselessly vague: "I want a better game," "I want better AI," "I want a better UI." Tim jokes about sliding the "better slider" from okay to great — as if that's something developers can just do. Developers need context. What specifically is wrong with the AI? Are enemies not taking cover? Are they running straight at you? What exactly is the friction point in the UI?

"Better Graphics" Means Everything

Tim uses "better graphics" as a prime example of vague feedback. When players ask for better graphics, they might mean any of:

  • Higher resolution (they bought a 4K monitor)
  • Farther view distance
  • Fewer things blocking their view
  • More creature variety
  • More location variety
  • Better art style

Each of these requires completely different work — more artists, more time, more money, better engine optimization. Yet they all get lumped under "better graphics." Tim notes that even players who claim they don't care about graphics (himself included) have to acknowledge that pretty graphics open the door — they attract players initially, even if gameplay is what makes them stay.

The Dating Analogy

Tim compares games to dating: your head may be turned by the prettiness, but you stay because of the personality and chemistry. Make a pretty game and more people will at least get their eyeballs on it. The mechanics keep them playing. Then later, players will deny they ever cared about graphics.

The Fundamental Problem: Players Disagree

This is the point Tim says many players refuse to acknowledge. Players do not agree on what a good feature is. He challenges viewers to scroll through comments on his videos about encumbrance, fast travel, or game difficulty. For any given feature — fast travel, voice acting, walls of text, story mode — some players literally say they will not play a game lacking that feature, while others skip games that have it.

Both groups have valid reasons. Tim isn't saying anyone is wrong. But there is no possible way to make a game that will make all players happy.

The UI and Encumbrance Example

Sometimes what players think is a UI problem is actually an underlying system mechanic issue. Tim uses inventory UI as an example: a UI designed for a game with encumbrance (limited inventory) can work perfectly well. Remove encumbrance and suddenly players can carry everything — the same UI becomes terrible because it wasn't designed for unlimited items. The player says "the UI is bad," but the real question is whether they hate the UI itself or whether they hate (or love) the underlying encumbrance system.

Players Who Want Fewer Options

Some players argue games should have fewer options, saying too many options mean the designer lacked a strong vision. Tim points out the irony: many of those options exist specifically to let more people play the game. As someone who is colorblind, Tim has encountered games he literally cannot play because they have color-based puzzles with no colorblindness options. The worst offenders don't mention this upfront, so players invest time before discovering they're stuck.

How Tim Made Games

For most of his career, Tim just made what he and his team wanted. They made games that would make each other laugh and have fun, hoping other people would like them too. When marketing asked "what's the demographic for your game?" they didn't know and didn't care.

Tim acknowledges that many fans love his earlier games, and maybe that's precisely because they were made in that vacuum — without overthinking what players wanted. However, he notes his later games sold more copies, so the "right path" remains unclear.

The Summary

Tim's three-part conclusion:

  1. Most players don't know what they want — they express it as hate for things rather than desire for things
  2. Those who do know what they want are very vague at expressing it, giving developers nothing actionable
  3. Many players don't realize their preferences aren't universal — what they want isn't what a lot of other people want

Game development is already technically hard. The complete lack of consensus among players about what they want takes that difficulty to a whole new level, especially for games that need to be popular and sell well.

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