Tim Sweeney has responded to fan criticism and other accusations relating to Epic Games Store offering an opt-in review system. Epic Games Store has an opt-in review system currently in development which will allow the developers to choose whether they want players to review their games on the platform or not.
This is the same criteria which is followed by the Unreal Engine Marketplace where developers can pick either option and get their desired results. Tim Sweeney announced on his official Twitter account that this decision favors developers and allows them to avoid situations where fans start deliberately review bombing video games such as on Steam.
This announcement comes after fans starting review-bombing previous Metro games on Steam over the decision to make Metro Exodus an Epic Games Store exclusive title on PC. After this announcement, fans took out their frustration on first two titles in the franchise and they have mostly negative reviews despite being solid titles.
Tim Sweeney’s official tweet stated
We think this is best because review bombing and other gaming-the-system is a real problem.
In another thread on Reddit, Sweeney mentioned that more platforms mean better options for consumers ultimately. At this point I will also agree with him because with more options, competition will be high and ultimately it will be the consumer who will get a better product at a competitive price.
A big Reddit discussion on stores, launchers, exclusives, and data practices (with a couple new posts from me on the Epic Games store):https://t.co/IREbT79wCJ
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) December 26, 2018
Tim Sweeney’s Twitter response came after fans were stating all over social media that Epic Games Store is trying to silence the voice of fans and with the opt-in review system, developers will just get away with giving bad products and not worry about any repercussions.
While productive fan feedback is always good, simply taking out your frustration on a video game by negatively review-bombing it on Steam simply eliminates the right of free speech. Both the Metro titles are very good and just because of Metro Exodus moving to Epic Games Store, both games are now suffering by negative reviews.
This seems highly unfair for both the games and the developers. Fans need to find some other way to take out their anger and frustration by simply review bombing titles and negatively impacting on hard work of developers. Productive fan feedback is vital and developers are always willing to listen to their fans.
Before Metro Exodus, Ubisoft also announced that their upcoming The Division 2 will come out on PC exclusively via Epic Games Store. Not just The Division 2, Ubisoft announced that all future titles will now use Epic Games Store or Uplay as primary platforms on PC instead of Steam. The main reason behind this move is Epic’s relatively open
What do you think on Epic Games Store’s opt-in review system? Let us know in the comments section below.
