Player vs. Developer
For years, platforms like GTA, Minecraft, and Fortnite have positioned themselves as hubs for user-generated content. The premise feels empowering: players are no longer just participants, but creators shaping the worlds they inhabit.
It sounds like collaboration. It looks like it would be mutually beneficial.
But beneath that, there is a more complicated question about ownership and control.
In a perfect world, players would walk hand-in-hand with developers. A living, breathing ecosystem where everyone contributes and everyone gains.
But creation does not always equal control, take for example what happened recently with the fallout at Supercell.
CEO Ilkka Paananen recently released an annual blog post celebrating the massive resurgence of Clash Royale.
He credited the team’s new features, the campaigns and the internal strategy. But who he did not credit was the people actually playing and promoting the game.
The backlash was instantaneous:
Twitch streamer Jynxzi described the omission as “probably the biggest spit in the face I’ve ever seen.”
And he wasn’t wrong because the community knows who was really responsible for the resurgence. It wasn’t just a code update that saved Clash Royale; it was creators organising tournaments, creating content, building communities and sustaining the game long after its release. Streamers investing their own money and energy to bring the game back to cultural relevance.
In many ways, they are the lifeblood of modern live-service games.
To his credit, Paananen acknowledged this and issued an apology.
‘I've seen the reaction to the Clash Royale section and I want to address it directly. In short, I failed to acknowledge the role that creators, pro players, and the broader community played in Clash Royale's resurgence. That was my mistake — no one else's — and it runs counter to everything I believe about the impact creators have on our games and our business. I am sorry.’
His apology was not only sincere, it was an important statement, an acknowledgement from developers that in this ecosystem of creation of games. Credit should be given where it is due. This is in no way to diminish what developers do, they are the architects of the game and their work and ingenuity should never be taken for granted. The issue is when these communities who are also helping to sustain a game, make efforts that go largely ignored or not acknowledged.
If a player spends thousands of hours building a world or a community, who owns that value? Is the player a collaborator, or are they simply unpaid labour disguised as an “influencer”? And when an act of credit is due, their efforts are brushed aside or the credit is misdirected to a new update of the game.
Because without developers, there is no game. But without players, there is no world.
When I first read about the whole Supercell fiasco, I was struggling to come to a neat conclusion with the whole player vs developer concept and I realised there is no neat conclusion that can be comfortably reached. As a gamer who has played so many live service games and has enjoyed downloading mods created by community members I know the value they play. But as someone who is also helping to develop a game, I am working as a narrative writer on an unpublished project, I also know first-hand how difficult it is to create a game.
The only conclusion I can safely and comfortably come to is this, what we must remember is that both parties are important to creating and also sustaining these live service games that everyone enjoys. It’s about mutual respect for the hard work and love that is poured into these games. I think what Paananen did by issuing an apology is shining a light on the champions of this game and more of that needs to happen if we all want to continue in this ecosystem of user-generated content.
I am Annabel or creativelyanzy as I’m known online! I am the founder of Melanin Gamers: a gaming community that promotes diversity and inclusivity in the video games industry, with a special focus on content creators; whiles also providing a safe space for people of colour to come together and game
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