About

You Control the Buttons You Press is a catchphrase originating from a viral X / Twitter reply by the official account for the video game series DOOM to a complaint about a new combat option being added to Doom Eternal. The reply, which indicated that the player isn't forced to use the option as they control the buttons they press, has since become a popular retort to complaints about various optional features in games.

Origin

On October 24th, 2019, the official X^[1] / Twitter account for the DOOM video game series posted a GIF demonstrating the Ice Bomb, a new ability introduced in the 2020 video game Doom Eternal allowing one to freeze a group of demons. Replying to the post, X user @Otakugear inquired if the game would have the option to turn off the ability, with @DOOM replying,^[2] "you control the buttons you press." The reply garnered over 1,600 reposts and 8,300 likes in six years (full exchange shown below).

Spread

On October 25th, 2019, Redditor Fatman9000 posted a screenshot of the exchange in the /r/Doom^[3] subreddit, where it received over 13,000 upvotes in six years.

Starting in 2023, the reply achieved popularity as a retort to posts complaining about optional features in games and sandbox games naturally allowing for out-of-the-box gameplay. For example, on May 14th, 2023, X^[4] user @ComicLoverMari used a screenshot of the reply to react to a complaint about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with the post (shown below) gaining over 4,800 reposts and 80,000 likes in two years.

The catchphrase saw a surge in popularity in January 2025 as it was used in online discussions about upcoming games DOOM: The Dark Ages and Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Specifically, on January 31st, 2025, X^[5] user @shoheikondo made a post about the player being able to destroy furnishings and attack visitors at religious temples in the game, with multiple users replying with the catchphrase. For example, user @DANNYonPC posted a reply^[6] (shown below) that garnered over 110 reposts and 17,000 likes in three days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References