Online gaming is a juggernaut of an industry, and within it, dozens of sectors help prop it up and keep it consistently ranked globally. Today, our focus is on the role of player feedback, which is one of the most authentic and crucial elements in shaping the world of online gaming.
While it falls under the broader category of marketing, it is a particular type of marketing. When leveraged correctly, it can be the golden ticket for online gaming companies to take the next step. Although it has already shaped online gaming, we will explore why it remains so important and what role it could play in the future.
Authenticity in a saturated market
Providing a sense of authenticity has become one of the most pivotal elements not only in online gaming but in practically every customer-based industry. Pre-internet, gaming companies relied on expensive traditional marketing campaigns, and those brands with the capital and reach would often spend huge sums on billboards, magazines, radio, or TV spots.
This scattergun approach would pay some dividends, but it was part of a carefully designed and structured package intended to make the games look as attractive as possible.
Gaming magazines that had reviewers soon became a valuable source of information. While some of these companies found themselves pulling their punches (especially when it came to games reviewed by some of the bigger and more influential brands in the market), they were able to dissect and deep-dive into the latest games, giving consumers better insight than a 30-second advertisement could provide.
Reliable reviews across gaming sectors
Player feedback matters… but so does knowing where to find trustworthy analysis before you even start playing. Different gaming sectors have developed their own review ecosystems, each with varying levels of reliability.
In competitive gaming, streamers and content creators often double as reviewers, breaking down mechanics as they play. In mobile gaming, app store reviews flood in by the thousands, though many lack depth.
Casino gaming has carved out its own niche, where detailed breakdowns of payment methods, game selection, and bonus terms matter as much as entertainment value. The BetOnRed casino feedback is a good example of this approach: showing exactly what criteria matter when you’re choosing where to play with real money.
The challenge across all these sectors? AI-generated reviews have muddied the waters. Automated content now floods review sites, skewing ratings and making it harder to separate genuine feedback from manufactured noise. While gaming companies have tried cracking down, it remains a persistent problem.
The most valuable reviews share common traits regardless of the gaming sector: transparent authorship, clear methodology, and honest assessment that includes both strengths and areas for improvement. Perfect scores across the board? That’s usually a red flag.
Integrating player feedback
It’s fair to say that some players are at the same skill level, if not higher, than some reviewers. Many gamers will spend thousands of hours playing their favorite games. Those who fixate on one genre can develop an intricate knowledge of what makes a game stand out amongst the rest.
However, when it comes to player feedback, the most crucial factor to remember is that they very rarely have the same skin in the game as a reviewer might. Gamer feedback stems from playing the game and is often provided without an agenda. Gamers are rarely paid for their insight or feedback. They do it out of joy and passion for the game, and are often more authentic and insightful, offering a true understanding of how the game works.
Gaming companies are aware of this influence. Although the power of reviews has shifted into a dynamic in which influential gaming influencers are now highly sought after, the power of Discord and Telegram communities has enabled gaming companies to incorporate feedback and improve the design of their games.
Digital gaming libraries are becoming more important than physical copies in the eyes of many, with the number of physical games declining significantly since the late 2000s. Player feedback is now predominantly routed through digital channels, and gaming companies are using social media to open discussions for improving their designs.
Why is it so important?
Simply put, player feedback provides a unique opportunity for gaming developers and companies to speak directly to their consumer base. These are people who interact with their titles, often have a passion for gaming, and are driven to provide feedback that makes the game as seamless as possible.
Although we used the example of online gaming, this is true throughout every sector. If you’re somebody who enjoys movies, then focus groups and movie reviewers act as a vital source of information. The international nature of online gaming brings together the best minds who compete online, but it also means that those with the brightest minds in game design have a drive to produce the highest-quality product possible.
Without this insight from consumers and regular, repeat customers, game developers cannot get a clear gauge of what the game does well and where it needs improvement. It is a necessity in the modern market. As the gaming industry continues to rely more heavily on digital communities, player feedback will continue to shape various aspects of the industry, from game design to marketing.
Final thoughts
With so many different communities and ideas shaping online gaming, it is essential that gaming companies do not keep their biggest fans on the outside looking in. While it is impossible to work with an endless stream of customer feedback, and pleasing everybody is an impossible task, there is no dispute that when this type of feedback is properly implemented, everyone within the supply chain and the gaming community benefits.
We’ve seen the role of YouTubers, social media influencers, and gaming reviewers evolve into a huge standalone sector. While this does create some excessive noise in the market, gaming companies that know which influencers to pay attention to and those that offer genuinely insightful, unique insights are considered valuable tools in the world of online gaming. Although admittedly, it can still come down to a popularity contest, meaning the loudest reviewer gets listened to more.
As long as this dynamic of gaming doesn’t change significantly anytime soon and continues to rely heavily on online communities, then online feedback will shape the industry for at least the next decade, and perhaps even longer.
