Slaying Customer Feedback Demons

When a movie is released, it’s done. The critics and public will experience it in a state judged to be complete. If it was Oscar worthy and soars to the top of the box office, that’s great! But if it was a turd – customer feedback can be devastating, especially in an age where a scathing tweet or Facebook post can be seen by millions in seconds. Luckily for videogame developers, responding to customer feedback is simple. They can change the game in more ways than one.

When developer Blizzard released Diablo III in 2012, critics were happy. In fact, according to Metacritic, its average critic score has settled at 88%. But on that same site, the fan score, the customer feedback if you will, stands at 39%, despite sales of 15 million. Much of this negativity was due to Diablo III’s Auction House.

The Auction House allowed players to purchase items with real money (That’s right – some people actually pay real money for things that don’t exist). Allowing players to purchase items rather than earn them through gameplay meant that the loot element became meaningless. The fact that rare items were almost impossible to earn anyway compounded the problem, making Diablo III less of a quest to combat the forces of evil and more of an eBay for fake weaponry. Yawn.

Enter Reaper of Souls. Released on March 25 2014, this expansion pack demonstrated an unprecedented response to customer feedback. The Auction House was closed, the likelihood of finding quality items in the game was raised and Blizzard added a new act and a playable character as bonuses. The expansion rectified the loot issue, and actually made the game more rewarding than any other entry in the series. The result? A solid average critic score of 86%, a markedly improved user score of 65% and sales of 2.7 million in the first week of release.

There’s no rocket science about this turnaround. Blizzard simply acknowledged the customer feedback, identified the problem and eliminated it. It was a targeted response that removed the game’s most maligned feature, making Diablo III the hacking, slashing, looting adventure the fans wanted all along.

Everyone makes mistakes. If you’re in a business that’s lucky enough to be able to rectify them, take a leaf out of Blizzard’s book. Listen to customer feedback, fix the problem and reap the rewards.