How big of an effect can review bombing have on a game? According to Moon Studios, the people behind Ori and the Blind Forest, the consequences could be so serious that it could lead to the closure of the studio. At least, that’s what studio head Thomas Mahler said. Before he said the opposite.
Discussing the release of the studio’s most recent game, No Rest for the Wicked, on a Discord (as spotted by NeoGaf), Mahler said, “It’s entirely possible we won’t be around in a couple of months to do anything anymore, simply because we got review bombed.” He added that this “leads to people not buying the game.”
It’s quite an extraordinary claim in any situation, but even more so in the case of No Rest for the Wicked which…hasn’t been review bombed? The game is currently sitting at “Mostly Positive” on Steam, with an extraordinary total number of 43,000 reviews, of which 75 percent are positive.
It’s only as low as it is (and it’s not low!) because of a recent update, The Breach, that went down badly with players who let their feelings be known. But, as is clear from the store page, not in a way that is visible to the average customer. And it was reviewed negatively because, by all reports, it was pretty bad. Earlier this month, Mahler described the update’s release as “one of the worst days of my life,” as the studio rushed to send out hotfixes, and acknowledged the many issues.
Oh, and on top of all that, he was…making it up? In the wake of the comments being picked up by the media this weekend, Mahler took to Twitter to explain that it’s the fault of the press for interpreting his saying his studio “won’t be around in a couple of months” as meaning the studio won’t be around in a couple of months. He in fact wrote those comments to “push back against some of the bullshit reviews.”
Mahler added, “I’ve been hated on Twitter by a few crazies for years now, and I also saw the calls for review bombing because, according to those folks, I’m a ‘Nazi.’” In order to prove just how unfair a claim this is, the studio boss continued,
These days, apparently anyone who doesn’t include five trans characters in their game and doesn’t let their products be influenced by political bullshit is a Nazi. What a world we live in.
Yeah, that’s me convinced.
The confusing rant then rather radically changed subject to talk about how he doesn’t want to take sides in the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, before adding that, “No, we’re not in immediate financial danger,” and then inexplicably saying, “but from time to time, I think I’m allowed to speak up about issues within our industry I personally find unbecoming.”
So Moon Studios isn’t in immediate danger of closing, and No Rest isn’t being review bombed, and yet despite this all being about absolutely nothing whatsoever, somehow everything feels deeply icky.
In 2022, VentureBeat reported that staff working for Moon Studios had told the outlet about a culture of “casual racism, sexism and bullying,” describing it as “an oppressive workplace.”
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