Steam Fanatics Review-bomb "Metro Exodus" on Metacritic

[btarunr]

"Metro Exodus" is the week's big AAA PC launch, and the latest entry to the post-apocalyptic horror-survival shooter franchise by 4A Games. The Ukrainian studio recently pulled the game from Steam and made it an exclusive with rival DRM platform Epic Games, in pursuit of a higher revenue-share. This invited inexplicable hatred from Steam users, who appear to have review-bombed the game on review ratings aggregator Metacritic.

Metacritic presents averages of reviews by media publications and user-reviews side-by-side. This is vital as it helps uninformed or undecided gamers know if a game is overrated by the media. In case of "Exodus," Much of the 0-rated user-reviews include lines that criticize the game's non-availability on Steam or its withdrawal from the platform. The Metacritic review-bombing is the latest episode in a long saga of animosity between Steam users and "Exodus" developer 4A Games. 4A Games did initially solicit pre-orders for the game on Steam, and abruptly stopped its sales late-January. Those who had pre-ordered would continue to receive the game and its updates. 4A muddied the waters further by responding to initial criticism from Steam users by threatening to desert the PC platform as a whole, inviting more bile from some really angry gamers. The game received "generally positive" reviews from professional game reviewers.



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[kastriot]

Well steam fanatics if Gabe fatso Ale was not so greedy you would have it on steam so blame him.

 

[Space Lynx]

Well steam fanatics if Gabe fatso Ale was not so greedy you would have it on steam so blame him.

ya the double standard amazes me. more money for game developers while at the same time less cost to consumers... personally am glad to see the free markets finally working instead of just one company dominating and stacking that money.

 

[Shambles1980]

"This invited inexplicable hatred from Steam users, "

pretty sure its been 100% explained.

 

[rtwjunkie]

4A muddied the waters further by responding to initial criticism from Steam users by threatening to desert the PC platform as a whole

That’s not what the 4A employee said. He merely said what the logical result will be. Future development costs come from publisher.

The publisher is not going to put forth pc development money if the PC game makes no money due to people’s anger. He merely said what the likely result could be.

 

[unikin]

I like epic store. I got Subnautica and What Remains of Edith Finch for free. I revisit store twice a month to see if I any good free game is coming. So far only these 2 were worth downloading. I say keep them coming. I didn't buy anything from them though.

 

[ezodagrom]

ya the double standard amazes me. more money for game developers while at the same time less cost to consumers... personally am glad to see the free markets finally working instead of just one company dominating and stacking that money.

More money for the developers, that is true, but, the only developers that Epic is bribing to make their games exclusive to the Epic store are well known developers that would be successful on Steam anyway, not the struggling indies that actually would need help.

Less cost to consumers though? That's just not true, the game was cheaper on authorized resellers like the Razer store (before the Epic bribe) than it is on the Epic Store.

Personally I wouldn't mind the Epic Store if only they weren't bribing developers to make their games timed exclusive, that anti-competition practice has no place on an open market like the PC.
If a developers chooses to release a game exclusively on a specific store without the influence of a moneyhat/bribe, that's fine, but what Epic is doing though, paying devs to not release on Steam, that is not fine.

 

[moproblems99]

This invited inexplicable hatred from Steam users

This is total horseshit. This is nothing more than a bunch of children having a temper tantrum. I don't quite remember this level of vitriol to Rockstar about RDR2, at least the review bombing. I would like to see many, many, more games do this. Just for spite now.

Children. Grow up.

 

[Shambles1980]

wait.. because some kids review bomb things as the publisher did a bait and switch. you think more company's should do a bait and switch???

so when intel were caught bribing best buys to only sell their cpu's and people found out and were then angry. you think other mfrs should have forced retailers to only sell their things in retaliation to the disgruntled customers voicing their pitiful opinions??

is this a case of 2 wrongs don't make a right but 3 will?

 

[TesterAnon]

This was expected so its not surprising, bad move from the publisher.

 

[PerfectWave]

ya the double standard amazes me. more money for game developers while at the same time less cost to consumers... personally am glad to see the free markets finally working instead of just one company dominating and stacking that money.

Would be if all stores can sell the game not just one so customer can choose.

 

[Crackong]

That's kind of expected, when they shut down the steam page without any warning.
I am pretty sure things should be much smoother if they allow 2-3 days for the fans to buy it from steam before shutting it down.

 

[rhpsystems]

Users criticizing a platform and defending another for a game, that finally, we can play if we like or not play it. It does not make any sense, much less defend one company or another, both will take your money. It is not a discussion of platforms, but of who takes your money.

Metacritic scores lose all relevance. If every time I get angry with a game or a publisher I generate hate campaigns to criticize the publisher and not the product in question, I'm doing things wrong.

 

[jmcosta]

This is total horseshit. This is nothing more than a bunch of children having a temper tantrum. I don't quite remember this level of vitriol to Rockstar about RDR2, at least the review bombing. I would like to see many, many, more games do this. Just for spite now.

Children. Grow up.

I don't know what to say about the review bombing but the whole thing was a scummy decision.
This isn't how you compete with other platforms just buying in.

 

[moproblems99]

I don't know what to say about the review bombing but the whole thing was a scummy decision.
This isn't how you compete with other platforms just buying in.

Yes because I am sure Steam doesn't have exclusives....or Xbox....or Playstation...Need a few more dots....

 

[Crackong]

Yes because I am sure Steam doesn't have exclusives....or Xbox....or Playstation...Need a few more dots....

I don't think the problem is "Exclusive" , the problem was the "Hey I shut down the steam page, no warnings, now you have to buy it from Epic, Ha Ha Ha " thing.

 

[windwhirl]

I honestly can't approve of review bombing Exodus. Moving the game to Epic's store was a business decision, not a game development one. It pisses me off, but that's about it.

 

[moproblems99]

I don't think the problem is "Exclusive" , the problem was the "Hey I shut down the steam page, no warnings, now you have to buy it from Epic, Ha Ha Ha " thing.

I mean...those that bought it still get to use Steam....so what's the problem?

 

[Crackong]

I mean...those that bought it still get to use Steam....so what's the problem?

Problem was they advertise the game on the steam platform for a long period.
Removing the game from steam without any reasonable time for the customers to react is not ethical.
And, a company should always act towards customers not against them.
In this case, no warning period was a big NO NO, they are effectively deceiving the customer (and potential customers) on steam.

 

[moproblems99]

Problem was they advertise the game on the steam platform for a long period.
Removing the game from steam without any reasonable time for the customers to react is not ethical.
And, a company should always act towards customers not against them.
In this case, no warning period was a big NO NO, they are effectively deceiving the customer (and potential customers) on steam.

We are assuming that it was not Steam that initiated it. What if Steam said: 'We are removing your game from our store starting immediately if you don't comply with our demands.' Why are we assuming that Steam is the victim?

 

[ezodagrom]

Yes because I am sure Steam doesn't have exclusives....or Xbox....or Playstation...Need a few more dots....

The PC market is is not the same as consoles, what happens on XBox or Playstation is irrelevant.

When Steam has exclusives (though more often than not, Steam keys are available on authorized 3rd party stores anyway), they're not the result of a bribe from Valve, Valve is not forcing anyone to not release outside of Steam. Meanwhile Epic is doing the opposite, they're bribing developers to not release on Steam.

We are assuming that it was not Steam that initiated it. What if Steam said: 'We are removing your game from our store starting immediately if you don't comply with our demands.' Why are we assuming that Steam is the victim?

That's not what happened though. Epic made a deal with Deep Silver to make the game exclusive to the Epic Store for 1 year.

 

[Crackong]

We are assuming that it was not Steam that initiated it. What if Steam said: 'We are removing your game from our store starting immediately if you don't comply with our demands.' Why are we assuming that Steam is the victim?

Did you check the statements from Steam and THQ on 29 Jan ?
It was Koch Media and Deep silver

 

[Nkd]

Problem was they advertise the game on the steam platform for a long period.
Removing the game from steam without any reasonable time for the customers to react is not ethical.
And, a company should always act towards customers not against them.
In this case, no warning period was a big NO NO, they are effectively deceiving the customer (and potential customers) on steam.

Someone makes a business decision and it’s ethics. Ethics is ripping you off or taking your money and running or other shit. They stopped selling on steam, big deal. Did the product itself change somehow? No! So

$10 cheaper on epic store vs steam. I don’t know how they are not passing the discount on to consumers. Wait til next year and you can buy on steam.

 

[moproblems99]

The PC market is is not the same as consoles, what happens on XBox or Playstation is irrelevant.

I mean not really. There were games that I wanted to play that were XBox or PS exclusives...but I didn't go review bomb them because they didn't bring them to PC. It's not like it would be a terribly hard port now.

Did you check the statements from Steam and THQ on 30 Jan ?
It was Koch Media and Deep silver

Yes, corporate statements are always truthful and factual. See any of AMD or NV statements.

 

[ezodagrom]

Someone makes a business decision and it’s ethics. Ethics is ripping you off or taking your money and running or other shit. They stopped selling on steam, big deal. Did the product itself change somehow? No! So

$10 cheaper on epic store vs steam. I don’t know how they are not passing the discount on to consumers. Wait til next year and you can buy on steam.

$10 cheaper than on Steam...only in North America.
Also the Razer Store had the game for cheaper than the Epic Store before the Epic bribe (game got removed from there thanks to the exclusivity), so in the end the consumers only lose.