PC gamers will likely be familiar with Steam and its user review section, where players can see hundreds of opinions all at a glance, to help determine if a certain game is good or not. And like any storefront that features user reviews, it's common for particularly heated users to collectively "review bomb" a title by bombarding it with negative reviews over certain updates, additions, removals, or even issues unrelated to the game itself, such as a developer's political affiliation or choice. In the past, we've seen examples like this for Devotion, a game that had an in-game picture making fun of China's president, which prompted hundreds of users to attack the game for that factor alone. On the other hand, there was also the time where Epic Games secured the latest Metro title as an exclusive, fans went and posted multitudes of positive comments for the game despite it no longer being available on Steam, with a majority of them not even talking about the game, but rather how they wanted to see the Epic Game Store fail.

Valve intends to curb this behavior by making a few changes to how a Steam game's review score is calculated. In the future, the company will remove all "review bombs" from the default store page, which will target all "offtopic" reviews. According to an official post on the Steam forums, an offtopic review is defined by if the content focuses on anything unrelated to the game, like DRM debates, personal developer affiliations, or exclusivity complaints. Whenever a title receives a major influx of negative reviews, Valve staff will individually look into the case, and if they find evidence of review bombing, they'll remove any reviews made during a limited period of time.

In every situation that this occurs, a notice will be posted in order to inform users. Additionally, if you still want to see those reviews, you can simply check a an option in your user settings to allow them to be visible.

Q: I care about some things that I worry other players don't, like DRM or EULA changes. Review bombs have been about them in the past. Do you consider them unrelated or off-topic?

A: We had long debates about these two, and others like them. They're technically not a part of the game, but they are an issue for some players. In the end, we've decided to define them as off-topic review bombs. Our reasoning is that the "general" Steam player doesn't care as much about them, so the Review Score is more accurate if it doesn't contain them. In addition, we believe that players who do care about topics like DRM are often willing to dig a little deeper into games before purchasing - which is why we still keep all the reviews within the review bombs. It only takes a minute to dig into those reviews to see if the issue is something you care about.

Q: So if I post a review inside in the period of an off-topic review bomb, my review won't be included in the Review Score?

A: Unfortunately, this is correct. We've tested our process of identifying off-topic review bombs on the entire history of reviews on Steam, and in doing so, we've found that while we can look through reviews and community discussions to determine what's behind the review bomb, it isn't feasible for us to read every single review. But as we mentioned back in our first User Review post, our data shows us that review bombs tend to be temporary distortions, so we believe the Review Score will still be accurate, and other players will still be able to find and read your review within the period.

Q: Are you deleting reviews?

A: No, we are only changing the way we calculate a game's Review Score. All reviews are left untouched, and if you still want to see the raw Review Score, you're welcome to make that change in your Steam Store Preferences.

Q: Does this mean you'll be going back to identify and remove old off-topic review bombs?

A: Based on internal conversations and consultation with some of the partners that have experienced off-topic review bombs, we decided not to unilaterally grandfather in what's happened in the past.

Q: What about when I don't agree with you about what's an "off-topic review bomb?"

A: We'd suggest setting your Steam Reviews default to "Include reviews from all Steam purchases in Review Scores" in under the "Review Score Settings" in your Steam Store Preferences

Q: Reviews are extremely important to me: they're one of the few tools customers have to react to deception or discovering something they've been sold is sub-par. I guess that really wasn't a question, but I just wanted to say that.

A: We agree. We remain in active conversation with you, the community, about what you want from reviews along with the various partners who sell their games on Steam. Reviews are an important part of Steam, which is why we continue to do the work to make sure that they are not being manipulated by anyone. It's the same reason that we decisively ban partners who engage in review manipulation -- customers need to be able to trust the system for it be valuable.

Source

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

As long as I can complain about DRM here and not get removed, I'm okay.

 

[Souliousery]

This is good, I can form a better opinion of a game!

 

[KingBlank]

DRM Debates... sure, but they better not remove complaints about DRM ruining player experiences and causing technical issues as it often does - that is a completely valid reason to review a game poorly.

 

[migles]

took them too long.... the reviews area is just a meme fest...

 

[kcajjones]

How you say that EULA and DRM aren't part of a game when you CANNOT play without them (legally), is just plain stupid. Valve need to get their heads checked. Review bombs are real and valid IMHO. If the creator of a game is a convicted criminal and I don't want his work to benefit him then I think that's entirely relevant!

 

[Chary]

At least Steam has user reviews in the first place.

...Lookin' at you, Epic Games Store.

 

[migles]

DRM Debates... sure, but they better not remove complaints about DRM ruining player experiences and causing technical issues as it often does - that is a completely valid reason to review a game poorly.

it all depends if the person reviews the game as "DrM iS bAd" or makes a proper review where the drm is a valid point to complain..

 

[leon315]

took them too long.... the reviews area is just a meme fest...

but those meme are GOLD, i love reading meme reviews. you still have to be talented to write funny reviews.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

took them too long.... the reviews area is just a meme fest...

 

[migles]

View attachment 161156

camel toes? what is this game? now i am curious

 

[SonowRaevius]

Now if metacritic would do the same. It gets so tiring trying to read reviews that deal with the goods and bads of gameplay, and not a bunch of trumped up idiots who never play the games giving it a bad score based on memes, politics (or lack thereof), and pure hatred for a series they just don't like.

It's honestly to the point now where I don't even true reviews and either pirate or rent where available before I make a decision on a purchase I am indecisive over.

 

[Zense]

Don't worry. Gamers will find a way to reviewbomb and still warn about DRM, without specifically saying drm. No algorithm can outsmart us.

 

[wurstpistole]

How you say that EULA and DRM aren't part of a game when you CANNOT play without them (legally), is just plain stupid. Valve need to get their heads checked. Review bombs are real and valid IMHO. If the creator of a game is a convicted criminal and I don't want his work to benefit him then I think that's entirely relevant!

Yet if the review only bombs this and does not reflect the game's quality, then it just makes the game look wrong. And that sucks big time.
I want to know if the game is good and not if it has Denuvo.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

View attachment 161156

That's exactly the bullshit I am talking about. Why in the world does this count towards the game's total score. Idiots like this should be suspended from reviewing at all.

 

[8BitWonder]

Glad they're finally implementing this.

When I go to the review section I want to know if the game is quality or not and if I'd be interested.
I don't want to see why risen gamers hate drm or a dev at that particular time.

 

[wurstpistole]

Also, it should be mandatory that only verfiried owners of the game - meaning having the game in their library - can post reviews.

 

[the_randomizer]

Oh so they're going to censor people who complain about DRM being utter garbage? How pusillanimous.

 

[wurstpistole]

Oh so they're going to censor people who complain about DRM being utter garbage? How pusillanimous.

Absolutely correct, since it has nothing to do with the game's quality. I can only vote for it. Sucks to have games appear worse than they are because of some publisher's decision.

 

[the_randomizer]

Absolutely correct, since it has nothing to do with the game's quality. I can only vote for it. Sucks to have games appear worse than they are because of some publisher's decision.

DRM does not curtail piracy, because people are going to pirate the games anyway, so what's the point?

 

[Arras]

Also, it should be mandatory that only verfiried owners of the game - meaning having the game in their library - can post reviews.

It has always worked like that. The problem is you can buy, write a bad review and refund it.