It is not a secret that in recent months we have seen a negative reaction from the public to certain game releases. From the moment a game is available, thousands of people enter Metacritic, a site where critics and fans can find ratings of certain products, to negatively review a game, and in most cases, this is done before people try a certain title.
The Last of Us 2 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are the most talked-about cases of the last months and, although until now the Metacritic site had remained silent, today we have seen the first step to end the infamous review bombing.
Upon entering the page of games like Catherine: Full Body for Nintendo Switch and other recent releases, in the section that allows users to write their reviews, it is mentioned that the opinions of the general public will be available at a later date. In the case of Catherine: Full Body, the game hit the market on July 7, but it will be until the 9th of this month when fans will be able to register their opinions.
Now, this will not completely eradicate review bombing issues, at the end of the day players will be able to continue posting their reviews without any restrictions. However, this extra time can offer people the space necessary to actually experience a certain work on their own, as well as discourage this practice.
It is important to note that at the end of the day, review bombing has proven unsuccessful in the most important aspect of a game, the number of copies sold. Both The Last of Us 2 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are a resounding success on the market. However, these types of actions can sometimes incite hatred, as we have seen lately with the work of Neil Druckmann.
We can only wait and see what the result of this measure will be and if Metacritic plans to implement other types of actions to avoid review bombing.
