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[LectureMaster]

GTA 6's publisher knows review bombing poses a massive risk to its games

Take-Two says player-driven review bombing campaigns can negatively impact the success of its games, as the GTA 6 launch date looms.

www.pcgamesn.com

Obtaining and maintaining high ratings of our games on the third-party platforms on which we operate are important as they help drive players to find our games,” Take-Two writes in the filing. “If the ratings of any of our games decline or if we receive significant negative reviews that result in a decrease in our ratings, our games could be more difficult for players to find or recommend.

“In addition, we may be subject to negative review campaigns or defamation campaigns intended to harm our ratings. Any such decline may lead to loss of players and revenues, additional advertising and marketing costs, and reputation harm,” Take-Two adds (initially spotted by Game File).

I love steam review systems. Great indicator for me to pick and choose games.

 

[Danjin44]

Thankfully I don’t take reviews seriously, I trust my taste and nothing more…..these days reviews both from journalists and users are too much driven by “agenda” to be trusted.

 

[amigastar]

Thankfully I don’t take reviews seriously, I trust my taste and nothing more…..these days reviews both from journalists and users are too much driven by “agenda” to be trusted.

I grew up with gaming magazines so i'm into reviews, they help me to decide if i wanna buy the game or not. But i had some 65-75 games (Phoenix Point, Rise of the Triad 2013 for example) which i liked very much so it's not always reliable.

 

[LectureMaster]

Thankfully I don’t take reviews seriously, I trust my taste and nothing more…..these days reviews both from journalists and users are too much driven by “agenda” to be trusted.

I don't know about that. Steam user reviews are pretty on point. There might be good quality games receiving negativity for various reasons. But I have yet found a single well-reviwed game on steam to be trash.

 

[Danjin44]

I grew up with gaming magazines so i'm into reviews, they help me to decide if i wanna buy the game or not. But i had some 65-75 games which i liked very much so it's not always reliable.

I played games long enough to know what I enjoy or don’t enjoy regardless what ”score” it gets and so far trusting my taste hasn’t failed me.

I don't know about that. Steam user reviews are pretty on point. There might be good quality games receiving negativity for various reasons. But I have yet found a single well-reviwed game on steam to be trash.

I’m not PC gamer so I don’t know much about steam community, I take your word for it.

 

[Majukun]

well it's like trashing a business entrance

 

[winjer]

It takes quite a big screw up from a dev to mobilize the Steam community to review bomb a game.
If studios don't want their games to be review bombed, the solution is as easy as not to fuck gamers.

 

[Orbital2060]

Review bombing is real (Starfield; Helldivers 2) but how can you fix it?

The whole idea of being able to submit user reviews is based on people being honest.

 

[StereoVsn]

It takes quite a big screw up from a dev to mobilize the Steam community to review bomb a game.
If studios don't want their games to be review bombed, the solution is as easy as not to fuck gamers.

I mean, this is Take Two. You are putting up a very high barrier there to have them not to fuck gamers.

But yeah, I agree. If a game gets review bombed, there is a very good reason for that. Have yet to see a case where it was unjustified.

 

[StereoVsn]

Review bombing is real (Starfield; Helldivers 2) but how can you fix it?

The whole idea of being able to submit user reviews is based on people being honest.

Fix what?

Starfield didn’t get review bombed. The game has a lot of issues.

Helldivers 2 was Sony doing something dumb. Both cases were justified.

The system actually worked as intended and that’s great. Steam reviews are one of the few places left where you can actually see why gamers aren’t liking something.

And reviews can increase or decrease based on company actions.

 

[PeteBull]

I grew up with gaming magazines so i'm into reviews, they help me to decide if i wanna buy the game or not. But i had some 65-75 games (Phoenix Point, Rise of the Triad 2013 for example) which i liked very much so it's not always reliable.

I stopped trusting professional reviews years ago, when u could tell some games get brownie points for pushing agenda, some get lower scores for not doing it.
One of my beloved games from ps4 gen has 58 metacritic score btw, higher user score ofc, and i loved whole 120hours of it as a jrpg/star ocean series fanatic https://www.metacritic.com/game/star-ocean-integrity-and-faithlessness/
Oh, and it sold decently despite bad reviews or we wouldnt get sequel https://www.metacritic.com/game/star-ocean-the-divine-force/ .
Year later we got best in the series SO2 remaster, who actually got great reviews too https://www.metacritic.com/game/star-ocean-the-second-story-r/

Here is how terrible games still get brownie points https://www.metacritic.com/game/saints-row/ just compare to user reviews by the ppl who actually played and care for the franchise, huge difference

And here opposite example
https://www.metacritic.com/game/days-gone/ game wasnt woke so sellout journos removed at least 2 whole points from it, while users loved it, both on ps4 and pc, and it sold well too.

 

[Banjo64]

Game companies just call any negative review ‘review bombing’ now.

 

[winjer]

Review bombing is real (Starfield; Helldivers 2) but how can you fix it?

The whole idea of being able to submit user reviews is based on people being honest.

I don't remember a single review bomb that was not warranted, because the studio did something really bad or stupid that harmed their player base.

 

[Wandering Leopard]

When it's a targeted campaign there's a sense some people who are easily led get drawn in and just follow the group.

And the Helldivers 2 situation is a little strange because they did something that had zero effect on gameplay, but it was more of a preference related issue.

 

[Orbital2060]

Fix what?

Starfield didn’t get review bombed. The game has a lot of issues.

Helldivers 2 was Sony doing something dumb. Both cases were justified.

The system actually worked as intended and that’s great. Steam reviews are one of the few places left where you can actually see why gamers aren’t liking something.

And reviews can increase or decrease based on company actions.

I don't remember a single review bomb that was not warranted, because the studio did something really bad or stupid that harmed their player base.

 

[winjer]

Do you remember times when these review bombs were not warranted?

 

[Wildebeest]

Negative user scores stand out more because on the whole, user reviews on steam are positive, with players eagerly guiding other players towards games like Witcher 3, Terraria and Stardew Valley. It is important that valve don't cave in and say that review activity is inauthentic just because it is negative or because publishers complain. It would foul the system, people wouldn't trust the system, and they wouldn't bother posting nice things about games that really deserve it.

 

[PeteBull]

Fix what?

Starfield didn’t get review bombed. The game has a lot of issues.

Helldivers 2 was Sony doing something dumb. Both cases were justified.

The system actually worked as intended and that’s great. Steam reviews are one of the few places left where you can actually see why gamers aren’t liking something.

And reviews can increase or decrease based on company actions.

Indeed, even top of the top so elden ring dlc had that terrible seed mechanic, this time tho devs were competent/smart and fixed the scaling quickly after community feedback and game reviews went back to very positive just as fast.

Tldr if some1 doesnt know what it was about- now those special items bonus is frontloaded so after u find even first few tree fragments u get back most of ur power- otherwise with 0 seeds every1 is totally "nerfed" no matter how strong they were before dlc.

 

[Hypereides]

Sounds like Zelnick is bothered by consumers/gamers having gained a voice and influence after coasting on the coattails of his company's past successes for over a decade.

GTA 6's publisher knows review bombing poses a massive risk to its games

Take-Two says player-driven review bombing campaigns can negatively impact the success of its games, as the GTA 6 launch date looms.

www.pcgamesn.com

I love steam review systems. Great indicator for me to pick and choose games.

"defamation campaigns"

This guy is portraying these happenings as some kind of coordinated endeavour instead of groups of dissatisfied unfamiliar folk. Talk about reframing. To be fair, there is probably a minor subset of those people who are acting together.

 

[ssringo]

Do you remember times when these review bombs were not warranted?

While I can't remember a specific game I do remember hearing about "review bombs" I didn't agree with in the past. But the thing about "review bombing" (at least on Steam) is that it's never for no reason at all. Something was done that pissed off the community surrounding a particular game and they struck back in the only way they could. And disagreeing with it doesn't necessarily mean it's unwarranted.

 

[SHA]

Thankfully I don’t take reviews seriously, I trust my taste and nothing more…..these days reviews both from journalists and users are too much driven by “agenda” to be trusted.

If one unable to prevent sharing others feelings then that's the right thing to do, Usually it's the domain of adults, they don't mind what they feel and seek every info as much as they can cause logically it's the right thing to do.

 

[Laptop1991]

Review bombing or do they mean a lot of bad reviews for justified reasons, if publishers and devs don't like it, don't do some of the stuff that causes bad reviews, i support what Steam does when it's deserved.

 

[Silver Wattle]

Review bombing is basically the only tool left for the community to pressure a studio to change what the community dislikes about the game.

Gamergate was killed dead by the media twisting the original agenda about the media being in the pocket of the publishers into an agenda about misogyny, now we are left with a gaming media that rarely critiques anything mainstream and is completely detached from the opinions of the audience, leaving the community to take it upon ourselves to voice our dissatisfaction with developers, review bombing being basically the only tool that is effective.

They have even bought up the big review aggregate websites(Metacritic, rotten tomatoes etc) and manipulate critic and user reviews to suit their bottomline, leaving steam reviews as one of the last real beacons of effective user reviews to voice complaints.

 

[hemo memo]

Review bombing is real (Starfield; Helldivers 2) but how can you fix it?

The whole idea of being able to submit user reviews is based on people being honest.

How is Helldivers 2 case is considered review bombing when the game justifiably went negative because of the stupidity of Sony and when they fixed it (kinda) it’s got back to positive?

But of course publishers are going to hate on it to justify their practices.

 

[Griffon]

When I check a game, I just read the bad steam reviews, and if the complains are about dumb shit I don't mind about, then I buy the game.

 

[Boss Mog]

I still have more faith in review bombers than I do in today's videogame "journalists".

 

[BlackTron]

A lot of people expressing disdain for something bad about a game = defamation

A lot of people lying about how great a game is = journalists

Steam is the only place I take reviews seriously. If you are interested in a multi-platform game just go directly to its Steam page.

 

[Madserb2023]

Not making a good game, negatively impacts it's success. Why don't you hear Nintendo complaining about their games being review bombed or Capcom for that matter. Nobody is going to play Mario Wonder, even if they don't like platformers and review bomb that game. Games are normally review bombed for two reasons. Either because they are released release in an unfinished state with a lower quality than expected or is full of anti consumer practices. Just don't do these things. It just sounds like companies are complaining that they just can't get away with Superman 64 anymore.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Love how they gaslight it.

Is it review bombing or negative reviews as a reflection of a larger sentiment of consumers?

I'd like to point out how hard it is to run a successful "review bombing" campaign (aka the game is fine and liked by the majority but a minority view wants to tank the game). It requires coordination, bots, and/or the acquiescence of the review platform. Typically a small segment of consumers have none of these things. Negative reviews usually come as a natural response to some action or the overall quality of a product share by a large enough group. Basically, while theoretically possible, it's really fucking hard to pull off by non affiliated consumers with a minority view. That group would need backing of some sort by some entity within the industry.

Now... Review Brigading (aka artificial positive skewing of aggregates or fan response) requires coordination, bots, and and/or the acquiescence of the review platform. Guess who has the money and official connections and in-roads with the review platform/reviewers? Maybe marketing deals? Maybe the dangling promise of exclusive access? Take a guess... come on now.... who would even have the financial incentive to do this... Weird how these influx of positive reviews that are suspected to be a brigade campaign all sound the same especially when touching on a talking points... It's curious really.

I mean we never have seen consumers reviews faked by corporations before to help a suffering product or service. That is unheard of....

You are a fucking rube to think Review Bombing is an issue but Review Brigading isn't.

 

[KiteGr]

Bad reviews means the game might be bad.
Review bombs means the developer embraced anticonsumer practices, which is also a a good reason not to buy it.

It's not like the big companies don't have ways to change the score...

 

[Hypereides]

Review bombing is basically the only tool left for the community to pressure a studio to change what the community dislikes about the game.

Gamergate was killed dead by the media twisting the original agenda about the media being in the pocket of the publishers into an agenda about misogyny, now we are left with a gaming media that rarely critiques anything mainstream and is completely detached from the opinions of the audience, leaving the community to take it upon ourselves to voice our dissatisfaction with developers, review bombing being basically the only tool that is effective.

They have even bought up the big review aggregate websites(Metacritic, rotten tomatoes etc) and manipulate critic and user reviews to suite their bottomline, leaving steam reviews as one of the last real beacons of effective user reviews to voice complaints.

I wasn't really active when GamerGate occurred, but it really seems like its flying back in their faces with splash damage since they've lost control over the narrative. They figured they could control/silence the gaming community's discontent through fearmongering and slandering.

 

[Sybrix]

Don't release unfinished games, simple.

 

[Topher]

How is Helldivers 2 case is considered review bombing when the game justifiably went negative because of the stupidity of Sony and when they fixed it (kinda) it’s got back to positive?

That's what review bombing is though. Helldivers 2's review bombing was a concerted effort on youtube and twitter. That doesn't mean the review bombing wasn't justified.

 

[ryzen1]

I'm okay with review bombing cause...its working eh?
It takes a lot of shit to get the community to review bomb. So just stop doing things that people don't like.

 

[Fake]

Devs can keep that in mind before picking fight with their community.

 

[Topher]

GTA 6's publisher knows review bombing poses a massive risk to its games

Take-Two says player-driven review bombing campaigns can negatively impact the success of its games, as the GTA 6 launch date looms.

www.pcgamesn.com

I love steam review systems. Great indicator for me to pick and choose games.

Case in point, Take Two closed down Intercept Games while Kerbal Space Program 2 was still in early access and the game was review bombed as a result. But let's not mention that, right TT?

Take-Two Closes Rollerdrome And Kerbal Space Program 2 Studios While Majority Of Private Division Laid Off

Reports indicated staff were being laid off at Roll7 and Intercept Games and since then, Bloomberg has confirmed both will be completely shuttered.

www.gameinformer.com

 

[CityHunter1981]

Such comments encourage people to review bomb a game.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Duh!

 

[lh032]

Review bombing is real (Starfield; Helldivers 2) but how can you fix it?

The whole idea of being able to submit user reviews is based on people being honest.

but the review bombing doesnt affect the sales of HD2
Cant say the same for starfield

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

Nice! Knowing this, I'll do it more frequently.

 

[Topher]

but the review bombing doesnt affect the sales of HD2
Cant say the same for starfield

Starfield wasn't review bombed. In fact, it had more positive reviews than negative.

With Helldivers 2, the review bombing is easy to spot even today.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I honestly think review bombing is useful. If there’s a big disparity between critic and user reviews that doesn’t guarantee the game is bad. But it makes me want to find out what it was that pissed some gamers off so much. Maybe it’s something I care about, maybe it’s not.

First big disparity I became aware of was a movie - Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi. It looked so damn cool in the trailers, 90-something on Rotten Tomatoes. I saw it opening weekend and by the end I was just sitting in disbelief like “what the fuck did I just watch? How is this getting universal praised from critics?” So I checked out the user reviews and they were WAY more negative and most of them complained about the same stuff I disliked.

 

[SF Kosmo]

I think it's sort of a chicken egg thing. I don't know how much people shop based on user scores, but review bombing is usually a sign that there's a backlash against a game that would impact sales regardless.

But these really artificial review bombing campaigns, like when China gets mad over a Taiwanese flag or Russians are made at Ukrainians or whatever, those review bombing campaigns don't influence sales, imo.

 

[Madserb2023]

Everyone knows deep down many reviews aren't entirely accurate. The industry has always been compromised. I remember buying Devil May Cry 2 after a magazine gave it 10/10. Us humans aren't that different. I doubt anyone really thought the demon helicopter was a masterpiece of a boss battle. It's the same with movies. As I stated with a previous comment. Developers are just upset they can't get away with it anymore. They can't do anything about user reviews. The media and entertainment industry is one of the only ones that believes it can get away with releasing a product that in some cases doesn't actually work and blame you for it. I have bought games that I physically couldn't play because either because the performance was really bad or it kept crashing and lost my saves over and over again. Imagine Ford selling a car that doesn't actually didn't move and then blaming people for bad reviews.

 

[ReyBrujo]

I grew up with gaming magazines so i'm into reviews,

I also was into gaming magazines but back then I had little money and could afford maybe one game every three-six months so I had to make sure I would enjoy my next purchase. Nowadays I can buy anything I want so reviews are not that important. In fact it has been years since I purposely checked gaming sites for reviews, I usually arrive to them by clicking links around here, not really checking for particular scores.

 

[Astray]

I personally dislike review bombing on any game for any reason.

If you have an issue with a game, a critique, or even just want to shit on it, then feel free to contribute your opinion, but I dislike how normalized it is nowadays to organize online campaigns over the stupidest possible things while framing them as "consumer choice".

You go on IMDB and you see something that got review bombed, and you don't know if it got reviewbombed because it's bad, or because the creator said something on Twitter or whatever. Same happens with Steam, although steam has a lot of great tools you can peruse to understand what's happening.

Consumer reviews need to be honest and unmotivated, or otherwise they lose their value entirely.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Review bombing is your right and I'll go so far as to say your responsibility as a core gamer to tell the more casual gamers who don't follow gaming news, which games to stay clear of or not.

While I don't agree with every issue communities raise and campaign to review-bomb over, it's irrelevant. If the collective gamers sees as an issue they don't like that is marring an otherwise great game, review bombs are a great recourse for them making their voices heard.

Pubs and Devs should be taking review bombing seriously and understanding it as the voice of the collective consumer. Instead of thinking that it's only a small minority of hateful people who just dislike everything; as if the latter were true, there would be no possible way for it to impact an overall game's success.

The mainstream gamer is more informed today than ever before, but it often still takes the core gamer to spot and highlight issues with games and devs to bring it into the wider public consciousness. The fact that it works, shows that the mainstream gamer aligns with the concerns of the core gamer, once they're aware of the same issues.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Review bombing is pretty gross as I feel it's been significantly abused over the years. If a game is completely bricked or broken, it's generally the best way to get a studios attention. More so for some than others of course. But I've seen a number of instances where reviewing bombing was the only way to get their attention.

But yeah, it's understandable that it would harm success. That's kind of the point, the fans/masses are unhappy and they want you to know. As long as those reviews are fixed when the issue is fixed, then cool. Though I'm sure there are plenty that just "forget" and leave the negative ones there even after things have been fixed.

 

[bigdad2007]

So basically user scores hold more weight than industry scores where the people are paid shills. This is like saying “it gets wet outside when it rains”.

 

[Trilobit]

I think review bombing is silly. With that said I agree with the pushback against companies like Sweet Baby Inc. One shouldn't lie in their review, but one can express how displeased they were with their inclusion. Unfortunately the past decades have shown that the vocal minority usually gets what it wants, so the only way to battle is to become vocal too.