Stop Telling Fans What They Want, Start Asking Them Again

Developers love to say “fans don’t know what they want.”
But the truth is simpler: fans don’t want what developers want them to want.

Studios stopped listening.
They stopped asking.
They stopped running real polls, real surveys, real temperature checks of their communities. Instead, teams build games in an echo chamber and then act shocked when the audience reacts differently than expected.

Players aren’t confused.
Players aren’t indecisive.
Players aren’t the problem.

The problem is studios building blind, trying to steer fans toward a vision they never asked for—while ignoring the people who will actually be paying for the product.

Put out surveys.
Put out polls.
Ask fans directly.
You’ll be surprised at how clear, consistent, and unified the answers really are.

Fans know exactly what they want.
They’re just tired of being told they don’t.