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We all know that the Internet can be an exhausting place to exist. There are opinions everywhere you turn, and it can be difficult to determine your own views as a result. What, then, do you do when you’re a developer and forums are aflame with complaints and criticisms about your latest game? In an interesting interview with Games Industry.biz, Insomniac Games’ chief brand officer Ryan Schneider shared some candid anecdotes about the controversial transition from Resistance: Fall of Man to Resistance 2.

“We were relatively inexperienced when it came to interacting with our community at that point in time,” he admitted. “Social media and community were still in their relatively early days, and we over-indexed on how much we listened to our fanbase versus trusting ourselves.” In other words, it listened to the vocal minority, and it ended up changing things that most people liked about the PlayStation 3 launch title.

He continued: “What happens is we deal with this thing called the doubt monster, or what other people call the lizard brain, and we start to enter this phase of defensiveness or self-doubt. And we don't believe in ourselves and the choices we're making, and that causes us to cave in and compromise. When we do that, we stray from our vision and values.”

Insomniac has learned to deal with this better in the decade or so since Resistance 2’s release. For example, it recently changed its logo, ditching the “iconic” moon symbol that’s been a part of its heritage since the very first Ratchet & Clank title. “We blew up the moon, our beloved icon that millions of people around the world had grown to love, but we knew it didn't tell the story we wanted to tell, and we had the courage to take an entirely different approach and direction with the rebrand,” Schneider concluded. “And we feel great about it.”

[source gamesindustry.biz]