The free-to-play gaming landscape experienced a surge of excitement earlier this month with the simultaneous launch of two highly anticipated titles: The First Descendant and Once Human.
While the former garnered attention for its impressive visuals, it was met with criticism over aggressive monetization tactics. In contrast, Once Human initially captivated players with its open-world survival crafting gameplay.
Recently, gamers have been quick to call out Starry Studio, the developers behind the open-world survival game because of their "manipulative" maneuvers over the game reviews on Steam.
Once Human: A Meteoric Rise and Fall?
Once Human quickly gained traction, boasting a peak of over 230,000 concurrent players on Steam during its launch week. The game's open-world survival mechanics and crafting elements resonated with players, creating a dedicated fanbase. However, this initial euphoria was short-lived as subsequent updates introduced significant challenges, according to The Sun.
A particularly damaging update on July 18 resulted in widespread player frustration. Numerous players reported lost items and destroyed bases, causing a significant backlash against the game. While the development team, Starry Studio, has pledged to compensate affected players, the damage to the game's reputation was already done.
Developer Under Fire for Review Manipulation
In the aftermath of the update, a firestorm of negative reviews erupted on the game's Steam page. In response, Kotaku reported that Starry Studio attempted to encourage positive reviews through a now-deleted Discord message. This action is in direct violation of Steam's terms of service, which explicitly prohibit artificially manipulating review systems.
While the swift removal of the message appears to be a dubious move about the developer's intent, the incident has undoubtedly tarnished the game's image. The negative publicity surrounding the update and the subsequent review manipulation attempt has significantly impacted player sentiment.
Recovery and Reputation Management
Despite the setbacks, Once Human has managed to stabilize its position on Steam, currently holding a "Mostly Positive" rating. This indicates that the game's core gameplay loop remains engaging for many players, and the developer's efforts to address the issues may be paying off.
However, rebuilding trust with the community will be a challenging task. Transparency, effective communication, and consistent updates will be crucial for Starry Studio to regain player confidence.
This incident serves as a cautionary tale for other game developers about the importance of maintaining open and honest communication with players.
It's always good to be honest about the improvements of the game and the areas that should be modified. However, it's never okay to force players to leave positive reviews if they never see anything positive in the game in the first place.
Meanwhile, Tech Times wrote in its recent report that an SNK vs. Capcom rerelease is making a huge comeback after two decades. For fighting game fans, it's a must-play game we have never seen for ages.
