Starfield Faces Review Bombing Threat Ahead of Launch

Starfield is undoubtedly the most anticipated game from Xbox this year. The RPG has been the target of immense anticipation since its announcement and is scheduled to be released on September 6, 2023.

However, all the hype has attracted both positive and negative attention worldwide, and some angry users are now preparing to review bomb the game ahead of its launch.

Why it matters: Review bombing has become an unfortunate trend in gaming recently, and it has raised serious concerns for Metacritic because nearly every popular game receives pointless negative reviews.

Payback time, we need to do this for justice of final fantasy 16, horizon, gran turismo, last of us, any other goty game that Xbot cry and review bomb as a awnser

Im doing the same, have 100 accounts now

— Pastor Playstation PS4/PS5🙏🏽 (@Pastor_PS4PS5) August 16, 2023

As seen above, the Twitter user claims to prepare as many as 1000 accounts to review bomb Starfield.

However, this is just one example of such users. Another user replied to the Tweet, claiming to have 100 accounts prepared for Bethesda Game Studios’ upcoming release.

While one user attempting to review bomb an anticipated game is already bad enough, numerous people are following suit, setting a bad precedent for any major gaming releases in the future.

Look don't worry iv spoken to a ton of ps gamers,
i know one who has 600 Metacritic soc accounts, ready to 0 the game,
your in good hands lol

— MARK GOWER (@MARKGOW55207888) August 6, 2023

Negative reviews for a game are justified in many cases. Still, these examples make it clear that such users leave poor reviews to damage the reputation of new releases.

There can be several causes behind the recent trend of review bombs, but a significant chunk of it can be traced to the modern rivalry between hardcore fans of console platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.

Since Metacritic has not done much to stop such behavior, enraged fans on both sides consciously strive to do everything in their power to undermine new releases from their rival.

This has made review bombing a common trend. Previously, games like Final Fantasy 16 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom fell victim to thousands of negative reviews on Metacritic.

Three months before the game’s release, an angry user was somehow able to leave a negative review for Starfield. This was already pointing to a wave of negative reviews at launch.

Judging from the tweets, this seems more likely than ever. Of course, such reviews do not take anything away from the game, and users should look toward critic reviews for a more meaningful source of information.

Nevertheless, Starfield is proving to be quite an intriguing game. While Starfield is over two weeks away from launch, the game has been trending on Steam, and many already consider it a strong contender for Game of The Year.