Player feedback is essential in ensuring a successful game, but managing it is easier said than done.
Misunderstanding the popularity of certain requests, failing to action certain feedback, managing hundreds of suggestions at a time and juggling priorities is a problem developers and community managers face on a daily basis.
So how do you effectively manage this feedback and use it to improve your game, and community?
In this article, we’ll explore strategies to turn player input into a powerful tool for your game’s success.
We’ll cover common pitfalls, best practices, and how to create a feedback loop that benefits both developers and players.
- Common mistakes with feedback for early access games
- 7 steps to successfully manage feedback for your early access game
- Conclusion: Set up your feedback system
- Player feedback FAQ
Common mistakes with feedback for early access games
Collecting feedback is good, but it comes with responsibilities.
And game developers often stumble into a few common traps.
Let’s break them down:
- Ignoring feedback entirely — Some developers fear criticism and shut it out completely.
- Trying to please everyone — On the flip side, attempting to implement every suggestion can dilute your game’s vision and quality.
- Lack of communication — Not keeping players in the loop about how their feedback is being used, or even if it has been heard.
- Inconsistent feedback collection — Gathering input sporadically or through unreliable channels.
- Reacting defensively — Taking criticism personally instead of seeing it as an opportunity to improve and grow.
- Focusing only on negative feedback — Overlooking positive comments or constructive feedback can lead to missed opportunities.
- Not setting clear expectations — Failing to explain to players how their feedback will be used or detailing your development processes.
By avoiding these pitfalls, you’re already ahead of the game.
But knowing what to avoid is just the start.
Let’s dive into the strategies that will help you make the most of player feedback.
7 steps to successfully manage feedback for your early access game
1. Find the right tool
When it comes to managing player feedback, choosing the right tool is essential.
Feature request boards with voting functionality
These are dedicated platforms where players can submit feature requests or ideas. Other players can then vote on these suggestions, helping to prioritize them and giving you a quantitative view of what the players deem most important .
Feature request boards offer structured feedback and easy prioritization but come at a cost.
✅ Pros:
- Easy prioritization through voting
- Straightforward moderation
- Demonstrates active game development based on user input
- Transparent and open
- Encourages cooperation and discussion
❌ Cons:
- Costs money
- May not cover all types of feedback
Discord or forums
No need to introduce these tools.
Discord and forums are great to build communities but can be overwhelming to manage feedback as they lack the features to structure it.
✅ Pros:
- Often cheap or free
- Collect various types of feedback in one place
- Build a sense of community
- Multipurpose (Feedback, events, discussion, bug reporting, news…)
❌ Cons:
- Difficult to prioritize feedback
- Challenging to show users how their feedback is used
- Prone to spam and uncivil behavior
- Requires significant moderation effort
- Unorganized and hard to navigate
Surveys
You can also ask users for feedback using either a pop-up survey tool or a form linked to from your website.
Surveys provide detailed input but may not engage users as effectively.
✅ Pros:
- Gather detailed feedback
- Can be inexpensive
- Less spam
- No moderation needed
- Customisable
❌ Cons:
- Difficult to prioritize feedback
- Lacks transparency for users
- Doesn’t foster community building
Our recommendation is to use a feature request board like Feature Upvote and integrate it with Discord to boost the visibility of the board and encourage participation within your existing community.
2. Set the right guidelines
To maximize the value of player feedback, you need to provide clear guidelines on how to submit constructive and actionable input.
Here’s a template of guidelines you can use as a base for yours.
Encourage specificity and detail
- Guide players to be precise about their experiences.
- Instead of vague statements, promote detailed observations.
- Example: “The double jump feels unresponsive in the second level” is more helpful than “The controls are bad.”
Promote balanced feedback
- Ask players to mention both positives and areas for improvement.
- This approach motivates the development team and shows player appreciation.
- Example: “The pixel art is fantastic, but the dialogue font is too small on mobile screens.”
Focus on personal experience
- Encourage the use of “I” statements to share individual experiences.
- Discourage generalizations or speaking on behalf of all players.
- This provides diverse perspectives on how different players interact with the game.
Request contextual information
- When relevant, ask players to provide context for their feedback.
- This could include specific levels, scenarios, or hardware setups.
- Example: “During the level 3 boss fight, the frame rate drops on older laptops.”
Encourage structured and concise feedback
- Promote the use of bullet points or numbered lists for multiple feedback points.
- This makes feedback easier to read and process.
- Example:
- Level Design: Intricate dungeon layouts, but narrow corridors hinder combat.
- Sound Effects: Engaging soundtrack, but explosion sounds overpower other audio.
3. Encourage participation
When you have a smaller player base, and even sometimes when it’s bigger, it’s difficult to get feedback.
Here are some strategies to boost engagement:
Make your feedback system easy to find and use
You can add a link in your game’s menu and on your website. You can also ensure the interface of your board is intuitive and user-friendly.
Actively promote the board through multiple channels
Use in-app notifications to remind players about the feedback system, link to the platform from within your games main menu, feature it prominently on your website. And don’t forget to send occasional emails highlighting top feature requests or recent implementations.
You can also leverage social media, the Steam community and your Discord to showcase how player feedback is shaping the game.
Respond to user submissions and comments to show that you value their input
Aim for a quick initial response, even if it’s just an acknowledgment, if you don’t have time to write a full answer. Provide thoughtful replies later when you have time.
4. Communicate openly
Transparency builds trust and inspires confidence in your players. Share your development roadmap, be honest about challenges, and explain your decision-making process.
Regular dev blogs/diaries/updates or vlogs can give players insight into your progress. When things go wrong or plans change, communicate openly.
This honesty will foster goodwill and patience from your community. Players feel valued and are more understanding of setbacks when they feel included in the journey.
5. Sort & prioritize
If you have many players, you’ll get more feedback than you could ever possibly implement. So you need to eliminate the feedback you won’t act on, and then prioritise the feedback you will act on.
A voting system helps you identify the most popular suggestions. But even the most requested feedback needs triage. Just because several of your beta testers asked for an improvement doesn’t mean you should do it.
You need to consider other dimensions as well:
- Does this feedback fit the grand vision for your product?
- How hard will it be to implement?
- Will it require regular maintenance?
- How many users will benefit?
- Is there a clear return on the effort we’ll need to invest in to build this?
- Is there another way to solve this problem?
- How will working on this detract from our work on other areas of the game?
6. Act on feedback
The frequency of reviewing and acting on feature voting results depends on your development cycle and resources.
However, aim to review the board at least weekly, prioritize top requests, and provide regular status updates to keep users engaged and informed.
7. Reward contributors
Make your best feedback contributors feel special. The success of your early access is partly thanks to them, so it feels natural to give them something.
A few ideas:
Offer exclusive in-game rewards
Show your appreciation tangibly by providing unique cosmetic items or titles for active participants.
Highlight top feedback in your communication
Make a habit of featuring the best ideas in your dev blogs or social media posts.
When you implement a feature based on player feedback, give credit to the players who suggested it.
Provide special access or roles
Invite top contributors to participate in private beta tests or focus groups, giving them an inside look at the development process, give them exclusive roles on your discord or tags on your forums.
Conclusion: Set up your feedback system
With these 7 steps, you have everything you need to manage feedback effectively.
Now it’s time to start.
If you’re choosing to go for a voting board, we recommend our own platform, Feature Upvote.
Do you need more information?
Read how Hellcard’s developers conquered their years-long challenge of aggregating player feedback.
Polish indie game development studio Thing Trunk uses Feature Upvote to engage their community on player feedback, moderate discussions up to 50% faster and prioritise what players want—and ultimately make Hellcard a better game.
Player feedback FAQ
How do I keep my feature voting board organized and manageable over time?
- Regularly merge duplicate requests
- Close and archive requests that have been addressed or declined
- Use tags or categories to keep requests searchable and navigable
- Set up automation rules to handle common moderation tasks
- Enlist power users to help moderate and organize the board
What if players suggest features that don’t align with our vision?
Thank them for their input, explain your game’s direction, and suggest alternatives that might address their underlying needs.
Should we implement every popular suggestion?
No. Evaluate each suggestion against your game’s vision, resources, and long-term plans. Explain your decisions to the community.
How do we handle negative feedback?
Respond professionally, acknowledge concerns, and if valid, outline steps to address them. Use it as an opportunity to improve.