10 Games Where Developers Actually Listened to Players

10 Games Where Developers Actually Listened to Players

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 games where developers actually listened to their players.

When you talk about games with committed developers who listen to their players, you have to mention our sponsor of today’s video: Warframe.

For over a decade, the online third-person looter shooter has been defined by its unique, transparent relationship with its players. The folks at Digital Extremes are legendary for talking directly with the community about the state of the game on regular “Devstreams” and using that constant feedback to shape the game’s evolution.

This two-way conversation is why the game looks and plays so differently than it did at launch. It’s not just about adding new Warframes or weapons, this collaboration has led to entirely new cinematic quests, massive open worlds, and complete reworks of core game systems based directly on what players want.

This healthy relationship has allowed Warframe to grow with its community of over 85 million registered players. They even listen to the fun stuff, like the time players discovered a hilarious bug that let them ride their Atomicycles in outer space. The community loved it so much that Digital Extremes just left it in!

Want to try it out for yourself? The next chapter of Warframe begins in its new cinematic update - the Old Peace - launching this December. Warframe is free on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and iOS, with Android coming soon! Sign up at warframe.com!

“Cyberpunk 2077” (2020)

There’s no sugarcoating it - “Cyberpunk” was a technical trainwreck at launch. Great game when it came to story, combat, and mechanics, but the buggy AI, inconsistent framerate, and frequent crashing outraged a lot of players. It got so bad that Sony delisted the game from the PlayStation Store and began issuing refunds. Developer CD Projekt issued an apology to players and spent the first six months post-launch fixing all of the technical problems. Not only that, but we got several years of free updates and even a “version 2.0” that fundamentally changes the RPG mechanics. You simply cannot play it the same way as you could at launch. Hopefully all these years of player feedback and making the game better will lead to a smooth launch for the sequel.

“Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled” (2019)

“Nitro-Fueled” really could have been treated as a nostalgic cashgrab for publisher Activision, but developer Beenox really gave it their all and went above and beyond for the players post-launch. Not only did we get new courses, players also got a wealth of new characters among highly requested features such as interchangeable driver classes. Sure, the Wumpa Coin payouts didn’t get any better than they were at launch. Even so, we got all the characters we wanted, all the features we wanted, and even some quality-of-life improvements. It was honestly enough for some of us to deem “Nitro-Fueled” as the greatest kart racer ever.

“Wuthering Waves” (2024)

One of the biggest criticisms HoYoverse has faced over the years is how they don’t listen to their own communities between “Genshin Impact”, “Honkai Star Rail”, and “Zenless Zone Zero”. That’s where Kuro Games came in with “Wuthering Waves” and basically stole their lunch. Ever since the game launched, Kuro Games has been notably receptive to player feedback through hotfixes and communicating with players clearly when major backlash unfolds, such as when certain rewards aren’t super enticing to earn. Of course, not all of the criticisms come from the most sane players and end up harming the game more than helping it. Nevertheless, “Wuthering Waves” has managed to siphon players from the HoYoverse fanbases because of Kuro Games’s attention to detail and how they communicate.

“Fallout 76” (2018)

Some would quickly say how Bethesda never listened when players said “we don’t want a live service ‘Fallout’ game”. Well, we got one anyways, and they’ve actually managed to turn it around since 2018. In addition to a significantly more stable game, Bethesda has implemented many features requested by players such as fishing, more cosmetics, better base-building, more regions to explore outside of West Virginia, more efficient trading besides leaving out paper bags, and–get this–NPCs to populate the world! Bethesda could have easily stuck to their guns and said, “This is how we envisioned the game - take it or leave it”. But they’ve really improved the game over time. If you haven’t gone back since launch, you should really check it out now.

“Sea of Thieves” (2018)

Speaking of live service games that severely underdelivered, “Sea of Thieves” was sorely lacking in content. You could say any scurvy-riddled pirate was more fruitful in their ambitions than Rare was with “Sea of Thieves. You just kinda roamed the world, hunted for treasure, fought some skeletons, and called it a day. Modern “Sea of Thieves”, on the other hand, has so much more. Hunt for treasure, hunt for ghostly bounties, partake in ship battles, raid enemy encampments, explore underwater temples – you can do so many fun activities on top of unique campaigns themed around “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the “Monkey Island” games! Rare really stuck with the game and let the players help mold the game into a role-playing pirate adventure we were all wanting, and that is one hell of an accomplishment.

“No Man’s Sky” (2016)

When it comes to games bouncing back from vastly disappointing players, none bounced back as ferociously as “No Man’s Sky”. The game was infamous for launching without many features that were stated to have already been in the game by director Sean Murray and players quickly pointed out how much was missing at launch. Hello Games took all of the feedback to heart and changed the game drastically. In addition to online multiplayer, planet generation was improved as well as ship customization, the way factions interact with you, everything! And now, “No Man’s Sky” is regarded as one of the best online games you can play.

“Pillars of Eternity” (2015)

One of the most invaluable things you can do for your game is maintain a clear and concise line of communication between you and the players. That is precisely what Obisidian Entertainment did during development of “Pillars of Eternity”. With the studio on the brink of closure, Obsidian looked to crowdfunding their next game in order to save the company, and for every backer they had, Obsidian kept them all informed of what was going on throughout development. And if something wasn’t gelling with the backers, changes were made. The transparency and steady stream of info helped make “Pillars of Eternity” one of the best games we had seen in the 2010s.

“Stardew Valley” (2016)

“Stardew Valley” was one of those rare games that launched in such a perfect state that it was hard to really complain about anything. Granted, there were features that players were wanting developer Eric Barrone to incorporate. Some of these requested features include items to make farming easier, more farm buildings to make our work more efficient in general, more events for the town to partake in, and of course, multiplayer. Well, since 2016, we’ve gotten all of that and more. If you thought “Stardew Valley” was a complete package back then, it’s basically in “expanded sequel” form now.

“Hades” (2020)

It’s funny looking back on “Hades” when it was in early access back in 2018. It was absolutely nothing like the version 1.0 “Hades” we saw two years later. The dialogue was somewhat repetitive, the number of characters you could interact with was slim, only four weapons were available, there wasn’t much room for varied playstyles, and the ending was just kind of…eh. These were just a few of the criticisms Early Access players made towards “Hades”, and Supergiant Games went overboard on remedying those criticisms. More characters were added, a ton of new dialogue was written to keep the game fresh, dual-Boons became a mechanic, more weapons were thrown in, more boss variants were added – you get the idea. And now, “Hades” is the best game Supergiant’s ever made. Well…if we’re not counting “Hades II”.

“Baldur’s Gate III” (2023)

You wouldn’t be wrong in remembering “Baldur’s Gate III” being a key part in making the ill-fated Google Stadia a success. But that announcement was for the game being in Early Access, a means for developer Larian Studios to tell players that they want to build a game together. And that they did. Early Access players helped Larian identify significant issues between balance in combat, limiting options in the character creator, the small pool of companions, and the plethora of bugs that riddled the game. Despite this feedback only stemming from the first act of the game, it did help shape the rest of what Larian had planned for BG3. What you have now is a game that both developer and playerbase are proud to have had a hand in.

Want to try Warframe out for yourself? Warframe’s next big update - the Old Peace - is launching this December! You can check out Warframe for free on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and iOS, with Android coming soon! Sign up at warframe.com!