The Role of Criticism and Reviews in the Online Gaming Industry

UFABET เข้าสู่ระบบ สำหรับประสบการณ์การพนันที่ดีที่สุด Bogost is one of the foremost voices of a second wave of video game criticism. A media scholar, philosopher, game designer, and historian, he places video games within the larger theoretical framework of comparative media studies and emphasizes that they deserve their own form of critical scrutiny.

But how does criticism operate in an industry whose product and business models are based on the exploitation of a slobbering mass-market of rabid fans? How does it function when developers are held to a standard metric – Metacritic scores – that is arbitrary and capricious at best?

The Role of Criticism and Reviews in the Online Gaming Industry

Critics often play through a game multiple times to understand it thoroughly and to provide an accurate, balanced review. They take notes and sometimes even write while they are playing to ensure they don’t miss anything important. Reviews are only a small portion of what influences the purchase decisions of potential gamers, and it is not uncommon for a single or minimal difference in scores to have significant real-world implications for a developer’s finances and marketability.

For example, if a new IP’s Metacritic score is low, it can have a major impact on pre-launch sales while established franchises have built-in audiences less influenced by a single review. Regardless, reviews are still valuable for developers as they allow them to share information about their games with more people, creating buzz and attracting attention. This in turn can help drive downloads and sales, although actual purchases are still up to the individual player.