We all know how Valve (owner of Steam) hates moderating things, right? Especially down to more or less fighting review bombing simply by telling people to look at the histogram feature while otherwise remaining hands-off? And we also know that Valve (maker of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) recently turned the game free-to-play with a battle royale mode? Because it’s necessary to understand both of these facts to appreciate the irony involved in CS:GO getting review-bombed over the change in business model.
This couldn’t be more of a 1980s come-uppance moment if it involved a truck full of manure and a shout of “McFly!”
The stated motivations of the people tanking the game’s review score are concerns over an increase in cheating and the idea of new players arriving in the game without a clear picture of how to play the game, although astute readers will recall that existing owners will have the option to play among other owners rather than free-to-play players. Which means that just like any other review bombing, it’s really about bad-faith actors trying to ruin a game’s visibility on the store that the developers happen to run. If only there were some moderation tools in place for this, huh?
