Why Developers Don’t Open Up to Us About the Games They’re Working On

Charles Randall has been programming for a long time, and has worked on huge projects that have shaped our current modern gaming culture. Assassin’s Creed, Knights of the Old Republic, MDK 2, Splinter Cell… This guy has been around the block, and he recently opened up on Twitter (‘opened up’ is an understatement) about developers aren’t more open and candid with the gaming community about the projects they’re working on.

The gist? Whenever developers make an effort to be more transparent, gamers inevitably flood their public social feeds with ignorance and toxicity.

“The caveat,” Charles continued, “is that we’re only candid with other industry people. Because gamer culture is so toxic that being candid in public is dangerous. Forums and comment sections are full of dunning-kruger specialists who are just waiting for any reason to descend on actual developers. See any thread where some dumbass comments how ‘easy’ it would be to, say, add multiplayer or change engines. Any dev who talks candidly about the difficulty of something like that just triggers a wave of people questioning their entire resumé.”

He goes on to point out that the “wave of questioning” mentioned above typically comes in the form of hatred and harassment. The idea is that developers are basically playing Russian Roulette every time they open their mouths to candidly discuss achievements, challenges, or compromises in their field of work. There is a very good chance that someone who has no idea what they’re talking about — be it an absolute layman or, worse, a gaming or tech writer like myself — will latch on to the comments and spin them in such a way as to demonize the developers for being dishonest or “anti-consumer.”

Charles also points out that YouTube personalities, or “influencers,” can also play a huge role in the spreading of misinformation and toxic opinions based on misunderstanding.

Influencers Are Influencing

“I did a public talk a couple weeks ago to a room full of all ages kids,” he continues, “and afterwards, a kid came up to me and was talking about stuff. And I shit you not, this kid (somewhere between 13-16 I’d guess) starts talking about how bad devs are because of a youtuber he watches. He nailed all the points, ‘bad engines,’ ‘being greed,’ you name it. I was appalled.”

These YouTube personalities are highly visible. They’re right there in your recommended feed with bold, neon graphics and gaping mouths which signal that “you won’t believe” what you’re about to see. They speak your language. They don’t bog down the conversation with boring stuff like memory management, algorithms, or budget limitations. They’ll let you know in five minutes or less what this developer or that developer could have done better, and why the fact that they didn’t do better is an indication that they want nothing more than your money.

His advice? Just move on. If you can’t contribute something positive to the conversation, or there’s a chance you’re speaking out of blind ignorance, just find something else to do.

What do you think? It’s hard to argue when this very Twitter thread is filled with angry comments and ignorance. It’s depressingly ironic, to be honest, though not unexpected. How can we expect developers to open up to us when the public discourse is so dominated by rash ignorance?

Do we need more open communication?