While other developers like Larian are riding high with Baldur's Gate 3, it seems Blizzard are not doing so well with the recent Steam release of Overwatch 2 becoming the worst user-reviewed game of all time on Steam (via Steam 250). Overwatch 2 is playable on Linux and Steam Deck thanks to Proton.
This hasn't stopped it pulling in plenty of players though, with it hitting an all-time high of 75,608 playing just on Steam 3 days ago according to SteamDB. As I type this it still has 61,702 playing, so even though plenty of people are making themselves heard in Steam reviews - a lot of people are still playing it and likely enjoying their time with it. This puts it currently as the 15th most played game on Steam for peak player counts.
You don't have to look far into why the reaction has been so severe though. Steam gives players a real feeling of power thanks to the user review system, that certain other stores don't have, so it was expected this would happen due to the missteps Blizzard have made with Overwatch 2.
So what's happened?
Well it was supposed to be a sequel, but the reality is far different. Blizzard removed the original paid game, and turned the new version into a free to play version while continuing the live service model. Blizzard also cancelled the PvE content that was one of the bigger (biggest?) selling points of Overwatch 2. There is now a small amount of PvE available in the Invasion update - but you have to pay extra for it.
A lot of the negative reviews are Chinese players too, since Blizzard ended their agreement with NetEase which suspended their ability to play Overwatch and other titles officially. Now being on Steam though, Chinese players can make their voices heard (if they use a VPN to get onto normal Steam).
There's currently around 117,446 reviews on Steam with 106,596 being Negative.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: BeamboomQuoting: MangojuicedrinkerIt is simply a direct reaction to actions of blizzard over the years.
My point is that such response is content for a gaming article. Go blog about it. It has nothing to do in a game REVIEW. A game review is about the game, as it stands before us today. Not pre-hype, not capitalist motivations, not what the fans *expected* or *demanded*, not about the company behind it or how they fare with their fans.
Just a judgement of the game itself, behind the fluff.
That's what a game review should focus on. Can they also MENTION the surrounding chaos? Well, sure. But the rating should never be based on THAT.
So such user bombings of low ratings of the game is just... childish. Like the least effort possible to make a statement. And they ruin the user review feature while they are at it.
Well, let me disagree: User reviews is where the company feels and maybe even reads when they've done something wrong. They don't give a flying one for what I blog. Giving a bad review for bad behaviour is making use of consumer power.
I agree that this might make the reviews less helpful for people only wanting to know how good a game is. But no matter if a game has been review bombed or not, I often look at the highest rated reviews to give an impression.
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