To summarize the situation, Fall Guys introduced a new event called ‘Double Fame’ which generated a lot of interest from the community. The game’s official Twitter account posted a cryptic message, ‘The only thing on my list this year: more fame. Double fame is now live in a game!’, and you would probably consider this as a fun announcement at most, just like double XP is cool. However, the responses? They tell a completely different story. The fans seemed to have turned this tweet into a loudspeaker to express all their emotions.
If you are not paying much attention, here is a very brief synopsis of events: Mediatonic has made available in Fall Guys an event called ‘Double Fame’ that presumably lets players gain the game’s currency for battle pass progression (Fame) at double rate for a limited time. This is the sequel of a series of updates and in-game events that many in the community view as being on ‘autopilot,’ heavily depending on the Creative mode for new content instead of the traditional developer-made seasons.
But dude, going through those comments is quite an experience. The main issue is not about the Double Fame but rather an interruption of sorts. Players are quite literally asking for interaction. One of the users, CoolT35, went all out, saying, ‘A RESPONSE is the only thing I want this year! IS IT REALLY THAT HARD FOR YOU GUYS TO HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH YOUR COMMUNTIY?’ The same sentiment is spread all over the place. NanoLeon3000 was like, ‘PLEEEEEASE, TALK TO US! WE ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT YOU!’. It appears that the whole community is standing at the devs’ door with ‘We Miss You’ placards.
And the situation is not mere talking. The gamers have the impression that the game is, as one person described it, ‘on a life support system.’ The user malestermoo responded to someone else’s comment and described the feeling: ‘games on life support because they don’t have the money or devs to make new seasons so rather than shutting it down they made the creative mode so the community could make maps.’ That is tough. Although it is a brutally honest observation, still one can see the point. The shift in Creative being the main source of new maps has clearly split the player base.
Some people just throw in the towel. Pessimistic statements like, ‘Shut this game down, it has had enough’ by floyzi102 and ‘I want this game to die a natural death’ by kdw73375629, are a bit hard to digest. But they are also present, intertwined with the more frustrated pleas. It is like the drawing of a community that sees itself as abandoned, watching the slow death of the thing they loved. Even replies that can be seen as positive carry a hint of sarcasm. Such as when Spirit Halloween, which is running a costume collaboration, replied ‘We are so ready!’ and a player, FFA_Bean, reacted with ‘THESE COSTUMES LOOK SO CUUUUTEEE!’ – it’s like, great collaboration, but what about the actual game, you know?
The requests are also very specific. It is not just general discontent. The players are demanding the return of certain modes like ‘thin ice trials,’ asking for new power-ups and objects in Creative mode, and even coming up with crazy suggestions like making the whole game available in Fortnite. The very tweet that had a crossed-out ‘list’ in the image seemed to belittle the idea of having several updates in line, which user Banana222FG commented: ‘you can’t just scribble out “updates” from your list, that’s not how it works.’ It all boils down to an awful lot of the community feeling that they are invisible.
What is going on then? The question is why such a commotion is being made over a simple Double Fame event? And the answer is that it is not about the fame at all. It’s a metaphor. The event that feels automated is just one more in the series of them and at the same time, the big questions about the future of the game, developer support, and communication are completely unanswered. The community is yelling into a void and this tweet was the last megaphone. They are scared that the game they love is being left to run on autopilot until the servers are finally turned off. This is indeed a terrifying thought for anyone who has ever been part of the bean-filled chaos.
Fall Guys is undoubtedly going through an unusual experience. The game is officially still alive, there are events and collaborations taking place—but the very soul of live services, the players’ interaction, seems to be absent. The 2020 ‘Best Community Support’ award nomination feels like a ghost from a bygone era. Right now, the players are simply asking for a sign of life, a road that might involve platforms like PlayStation or Xbox.
