As reported by Ars Technica, developer Digital Homicide is reportedly attempting to sue Steam users over a string of bad reviews. In repsonse, Valve has officially removed all of the developer’s games from the Steam marketplace. Read the full article at the link above.
I think that this is a terrible idea that, as @Doomhammer76 on Twitter put it, sets a “dangerous precedent”. Were this case to make it through the legal system and be even remotely successful, I feel that Pandora’s box would be unleashed and could really open up reviewers to a significant amount of danger. Several of the reviews cited were threatening against developers and/or abusive about them personally, which is totally uncool and uncalled for, but this should be handled on Valve’s end. The developer should have dealt directly with Valve to have the abusive reviews taken down and the users who posted them banned or punished. Internet hyperbole is rampant regardless of what review platform you encounter and in most cases can be ignored. The concern I have with this case is that people could be scared to write a bad review in fear of retaliation from a developer. My take, write your reviews with constructive criticism and leave your hyperbole and abusive language at home. And developers, if your game is truly terrible, then bad reviews are obviously to be expected.
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Opinion by Nick Perzanoski
Co-Owner, Director of Marketing & Outreach
Late Night Gamers LLC
PSN: ThePsychicFetus