Outbound udkom på Xbox Series X/S og PC i mandags, og det lander på PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch og Nintendo Switch 2 i dag. Udviklerne fra Square Glade Games er dog kommet lidt i modvind, efter en måske lidt uheldig kommentar til en negativ anmeldelse af Outbound på Steam.
Reddit opsnapper som bekendt alt og her har en bruger spottet, at en spiller ikke var tilfreds med Outbound og i sin Steam-anmeldelse skriver "It's certainly cozy and the art style is very cute, I was quite amused by the reference in the lookout tower. However the game mechanics are incredibly shallow with very little variety, even exploring the world felt... meh. Definitely not worth the asking price, not even with the 10% off with the launch discount."
Square Glade Games svarede, at de forstod at spillet ikke faldt i spilleren smag og skrev "no hard feelings", men tilføjede så noget de måske ikke burde have gjort: "Feel free to send a support request to the Steam support to get a full refund on your purchase. If you do so, we would appreciate if you would update or remove your negative review. Thanks a lot."
Den sidste del er ikke faldet i god jord hos flere spillere, der påpeger at spiludviklere ikke skal forsøge at hæve andelen af positive anmeldelser ved at bede spillerne om at ændre eller fjerne de negative anmeldelser. Det har resulteret i, at nogle spillere er begyndt at review bombe Outbound på Steam med henvisning til ovenstående episode og en bruger skriver blandt andet: "Not gonna lie, I had this wishlisted, but the Devs going through the reviews trying to get them changed to positive or have people that reviewed negatively refund the game and remove their review has noped me out hard. An echo chamber of good reviews from either people you've had change or remove their negative review, is not a genuine review score. Hard pass for me now."
Square Glade Games har nu været ude og undskylde og sagt, at de ikke længere vil bede spillere om at fjerne eller ændre deres anmeldelser.
First and foremost, we truly apologize for how our recent replies have come across. We understand that our communication has felt wrong to many of you, and for that, we are genuinely sorry. To be completely honest, the 24 hours since the launch have been incredibly overwhelming. While we started with a lot of excitement, the reality of a launch brings a lot of pressure and intense emotions. Looking back, we realize that the way we communicated was not the right approach, and we didn't handle the situation with the care it deserved.
We also want to be clear: We will no longer be asking anyone to change their negative reviews, and we have also deleted our previous comments. We respect your honesty and appreciate the feedback, even when it's tough to hear. It helps us make the game better.
- Square Glade Games
I skrivende stund har Outbound en Steam rating på "Mostly Positive" og en Metascrore på 65. Hvad synes du om affæren ovenfor? Overreagerer gamerne på Square Glade Games kommentar eller skulle udviklere have holdt sig fra at bede en bruger om at ændre eller fjerne sin anmeldelse efter spilleren eventuelt havde fået sine penge tilbage på Steam?
Square Glade Games er en lille udvikler og de har nok på den hårde måde lært, at communitiet har en stor magt på en platforme som Steam og de er nok mere påpasselige med hvad de skriver i offentligheden en anden gang.
Du kan læse vores anmeldelse af Outbound her.