One of the many great effects that Steam has had on the games industry is that it has given players another way to express their displeasure with a game publisher or developer’s actions. You see, the effects of “vote with your wallet” aren’t that obvious when we’re talking about live-service games. A sharp dip in a game’s player review average certainly is, though. Review bombing is a necessary evil in a world where game creators can take a beloved title and completely ruin it in unasked-for updates, and it works.
We know that it works from historical examples, but in case you needed further evidence, check out the latest 10-K filing from Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two is of course the owner of Rockstar Games, and naturally the publisher of Grand Theft Auto among other titles. If you’re not familiar, 10-K filings are a particular type of official document that have to be filed with the US Securities and Exchange commission by all publicly-traded entities. They have a particular format and must contain specific information.
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. 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. 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 Interactive, Inc. May 22nd 10-K Report
One of those types of information pertains to potential risks to the company’s business, and in that section, Take-Two has included a new risk for its 2024 filing: review bombing. You can read the full quote just above, but it very clearly warns that “negative review campaigns” could damage its business.
Fans were outraged that Take-Two seemed to be taking an anti-mod stance, although it becomes more understandable when you realize that, to many game publishers and developers, “mod” and “hack” are synonyms. GTA Online is possibly the second-most hacked game of all time (after Counter-Strike), and Take-Two understandably wanted to stem that tide a bit, but of course, attempted to do so in the most ham-fisted way possible.