Bethesda reportedly turned down multiple proposals from Obsidian to develop more Fallout games as well as The Elder Scrolls spin-offs.
29.11.2023 - 11:50 / thegamer.com / Xalavier Nelson-Junior / Snow Day
Yesterday, Bethesda was spotted responding to negative Starfield reviews on Steam, arguing against many of the critiques like the abundance of loading screens and vast empty planets. While the responses are still coming under fire, many other developers say that this is normal as Steam now encourages directly replying.
"For those who aren't familiar, this is becoming industry standard," BAFTA-nominated writer (El Paso, South Park: Snow Day, Hypnospace Outlaw) Xalavier Nelson Jr. tweeted. "Because of how important of a role Steam ratings play, and the proven ability to sometimes flip negative reviews based off of simply interacting with a user, it's spreading. This is just a very big game doing it."
"We've been doing this for a few years now," Gloomwood creator and DUSK dev Dillon Rogers said. "A lot of people will flip their review if you reach out and let them know you're working on the issue or helping them resolve a bug. It makes a *big* difference when it comes to the algorithm, actually."
Thunderful Games PR manager James Bartholomeou added, "Bethesda is doing wrong, but Steam heavily encourages responding to your reviews."
Bethesda, however, has not addressed the complaints in negative reviews by promising fixes or offering to help with issues. Instead, when one user wrote that the empty planets were boring, it responded by saying that no, they aren't.
"Some of Starfield's planets are meant to be empty by design - but that's not boring," Bethesda wrote. "The intention of Starfield's exploration is to evoke a smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed."
Indie game Kaiju Ultimax's Twitter added, "Most indie devs are correcting people who are saying things that are straight-up lies. Bethesda is trying to tell people that their opinion is wrong and that their opinion [would] be different if they just played more Starfield. Which is toxic quite frankly."
Of course, Bethesda isn't the only triple-A publisher at it. As Nelson Jr. says, it's a growing standard.
It's actually one of the few mechanisms that we have *have* for pushing back against toxic/inaccurate narratives cropping up around a title, nowadays - which is why it works!
Prospective players also see both that review and the response, which can impact a purchasing decision. So is it weird? Absolutely. Will it continue to be used - and be used more - as Steam ratings play a role as the visible marker of a video game's reputation? Absolutely.
So, while this may be a new trend, it isn't without its controversies, especially as bigger publishers dip their toes into the strategy. Bethesda in particular has come under fire for how it has responded, rather than responding in itself.
Bethesda reportedly turned down multiple proposals from Obsidian to develop more Fallout games as well as The Elder Scrolls spin-offs.
Baldur's Gate 3 will not be coming to Game Pass, even now the game is available on Xbox.
Coming into 2023, many gamers expected that Starfield, the new IP from Bethesda, would be on the tongues of many within the community for some time once it came out. After all, Bethesda was one of the best game developers/publishers in the world, and that’s not an exaggeration. They’ve crafted incredible RPGs and worlds, and they spent about eight years making their newest title. Many expected it to be the “Game of the Year frontrunner” upon launch and showcase just how grand Bethesda was at making new ideas and concepts. But it didn’t turn out that way, and gamers have had the title “on their tongues” for different reasons.
Open your map in Starfield and you won't see much more than a height map, even in cities. If you want to then travel around, you're limited to walking huge distances when on planet surfaces and using fast travel spaceship hops when in outerspace.
Bethesda's RPG has received a minor update that should get rid of interstellar stowaways.
Nintendo loves experimenting with the Legend of Zelda franchise, and it’s not rare to see new instalments focusing on completely new mechanics and ideas, only for the series to move on to the next thing with the next game. And it seems that’s a trend that’s set to continue.
The Finals surprised launched during The Game Awards on Thursday night and its popularity has picked up where last month's open beta left off. There has been some negative feedback, however, from players upset that player movement is now slower than it was during the beta.
The Finals, the highly-destructible FPS from ex-Battlefield devs, surprise launched at The Game Awards last night. The shooter had just recently ended a very successful open beta that attracted hundreds of thousands of players, but many (myself included) wondered if Embark Studios still planned to get the game out before the end of 2023. Now it's here, and launch day is going well: The Finals is one of the most-played games on Steam right now, peaking at over 200,000 concurrent players on PC alone.
Apple has several notable products that have come to the rescue of their owners and saved lives. The company's smartwatch, called the Apple Watch, carries a vast range of health and fitness features such as a SpO2 monitor, ECG, and heart rate sensor, and can even alert the wearer in case of abnormal heart rhythm or even if they have an accidental fall. But it isn't just the Apple Watch that can become a lifesaver in dire circumstances. iPhone 14 and later models come equipped with an Emergency SOS via satellite feature that allows users to contact emergency services while facing life-threatening situations. The feature now celebrates its first anniversary. Know all about this iPhone feature, and what first responders think of it.
In this day and age, it can sometimes be difficult to believe what you're seeing. This is especially true in the games industry, which has seen multiple controversies surrounding games, such as the first Watchdogs and Killzone 2, that have had rather misleading trailers in terms of graphics and fidelity. That apparently won't be the case with the recently revealed Grand Theft Auto 6 though, as an ex-Rockstar developer has assured fans that the game will look just as good as its stunning trailer.
Bethesda Softworks stunned Steam users earlier this week when players discovered that Starfield developers were actively replying to negative reviews on Valve’s PC platform.
While it’s not unusual for a gaming company to respond to criticisms of one of its releases, Bethesda looks to be going a bit further than most when it comes to pushing back against negative reviews. In recent days, some Bethesda employees have begun posting replies to negative Starfield reviews on Steam, often going to great lengths to push back against critiques of the company’s sprawling sci-fi title.