Take-Two Interactive, parent group of Rockstar which publishes the Grand Theft Auto series, is warning about the effects of review-bombing their titles.
The publisher said that “review bombing campaigns” can actually hurt their profits, including but not limited to “additional advertising and marketing costs and reputational damage.”
“Obtaining and maintaining high ratings of our games on the third-party platforms on which we operate are important as they help drive players to find our games,” Take-Two said in a new SEC filing (via Game File). “If the ratings of any of our games decline or if we receive significant negative reviews that result in a decrease in our ratings, our games could be more difficult for players to find or recommend.”
The publisher added, “In addition, we may be subject to negative review campaigns or defamation campaigns intended to harm our ratings. Any such decline may lead to loss of players and revenues, additional advertising and marketing costs, and reputation harm.”
Take-Two and other publishers are concerned by the aggressive review-bombing campaigns that players and customers initiate, usually in response to a feature that inconvenienced players.
This was the case in like what happened to Helldivers 2 when it was deemed necessary by Sony to have it only playable with a PlayStation Network account, even with the game’s more-popular PC version.
The previous Grand Theft Auto titles already suffered review-bombing campaigns, especially the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, where players complained of decreased quality of the game models and game architecture.
