Post

Daniel J. Menezes
@danjohnston.uk

The Steam review system has become entirely destructive and counter-productive for indie devs. I've seen so many great games lately tanked by one bad review from someone who just didn't "vibe" with the game and couldn't keep quiet. Only takes 1 bad one on launch day to ruin years of work!

Daniel J. Menezes
@danjohnston.uk

And this seems to be true even of studios with previous popular titles, or back by publishers. If you got 10 reviews in the first hour and 1 was bad, goodbye release 👋 I think Steam need to change the system around this tbh, you can't change the reviewers - but you can change the impact they have.

3 reposts30 likes

Daniel J. Menezes
@danjohnston.uk

My advice to reviewers who disagrees with me & think they're doing the world a service would be this: Could your review have been an email or DM to the developer instead? Would the game improve more for other players if you sent this feedback in private rather than tank the release?

Tess Snider
@malkyne.com

I wish all the stores (Steam and mobile) provided a way for devs to provide a bug reporting and feedback link that can be shown to people about to write a review. We see and address bugs a lot faster when they’re actually reported through the proper channels.

No Avatar Found
@noavatarfound.bsky.social

Are we really needing tool federated Problem Management for the gaming space!? My ITSM ears are piquing!! Back end categorization on feedback. One designation is bug fix/tech debt clear up. You attach some sort of validated test set or proof and the review stays but the impact on scoring clears?

Daniel J. Menezes
@danjohnston.uk

Yes absolutely! Platforms might not want to direct people away from their own tools like that, but some kind of prompt to send a support message instead of leaving a negative review would definitely improve things

zDS ⭐ Kissed By A Star ⭐ Out Now
@zds66.bsky.social

There are people who want to help. Then there are people who enjoy the power. Not so different from several professional game reviewers. Developer's spotlight is the game they make. These reviewer's spotlight is the power to make or destroy someone and they love being creative with their disses

RaphZ
@imraphz.bsky.social

I mean I disagree with some of that. Yes a bad review is bad at the start, but the users who ate going to buy the game should be informed of the current state of the game, not the future. I think reviews should inform you if they were made in the latest update of the game, that might help

RaphZ
@imraphz.bsky.social

I did try to create a possible solution in my next post, but to be fair, it is a though topic to find a solution for it. The player shouldn't be forced to update their review just because the game updates, but a review that is no longer valid shouldn't count

RaphZ
@imraphz.bsky.social

I also feel like there should be a howlongtobeat number, and the review should only count if the player have played more than 10% of that time. This could eliminate a lot of those early bad reviews you're talking about.

Tomas Sala
@falconeerdev.bsky.social

I think there is room for improvement but overall or at least statistically the steam review system is much more generous and positive than aggregate press scores. It might not feel it (trust me I feel that sting every day) but it works well.

but.itbut.it
Tomas Sala
@falconeerdev.bsky.social

Yeh there are issues chinese gamers censored away from forums using it for tech support. But, by en large, I find it's a tough but fair system. I've raised my 1st game from middling to 83%+ ratings. It's not a death sentence. But I am just one dev. Perhaps too optimistic here:)