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No, we don’t know what you want.

We have no idea, seriously, what you want."

Fallout 3

Making video games takes a long time.

A lot longer than most movies and books.

As such, it’s hard to chase popular trends without making a new game feel dated.

Do Devs Know What Gamers Want? - YouTube

Cain continues: “Here’s the longer answer.

It can all be summed up as because you don’t know either.

But you’ve got to remember that I’m using the collective you.

Fallout 4 character wearing the signature blue and yellow Vault Dweller outfit while standing beside Dogmeat, a German Shepherd dog

First off, many of you only tell developers what you hate.

Great, you said what it is you don’t want, but what is it you want?”

What kind of characters do you want?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot of Solas

If you hate sarcastic characters, well, guess what?

There’s an entire realm of non-sarcastic characters, but what is it you want?

Do you want funny characters?

Vampire Survivors

Do you want serious characters?

Do you want characters with a lot of background?

Characters with very little of it you don’t want to spend time in a wall of text dialogue.

a dude holding a gun cowers against a wall as the shadowsof raptors can be seen coming for him

What do you want?

That’s why you have to tell us what you want and not what you don’t want."

Then there’s the fact that not every game can appeal to each and every one of us.

Atomfall

WhileI love soulslikesfor their challenging combat, many people find it a barrier to their stories.

A perfect example is the original Fallout game.

So, even when we tend to agree a game is wonderful, we can disagree on specific mechanics.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard reveal trailer screenshot showing Lace Harding, a dwarven woman with long red hair and a freckled face

[…] Game development is hard on its own technically.

So, what’s the solution?

This is a double-edged sword, though.

ben starr dressed in harlequin makeup chomping down on a banana

“Many of you like my earlier games,” Cain says.

However, I can tell you my later games sold more copies.

So, what’s the right path?

Fallout overseer

I don’t know."

Fallout

Fallout 76 screenshot showing an irradiated mutant man-like creature screeching, its sharp canine teeth showing

Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update

A screenshot shows three Elden Ring Nightreign characters wearing Dark Souls armor sets

Hollow Knight

Lewis Pullman as "Bob" in Thunderbolts*

Hawkeye

GTA 6 trailer screenshots

GTA 6

Articulate box, cards, board, and tokens on a wooden table

The cast of Thunderbolts standing in an elevator during the trailer for the upcoming Marvel Phase 5 movie.

Logan Kim as Hershel and Lauren Cohan as Maggie in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2