LogInRaphaël Colantonio doesn't agree with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's reviews.
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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was finally released after years of anticipation, but the reception was not as grand as GSC Game World probably hoped. As with many games these days, the launch was dampened by optimization issues, but most of all, players complain about enemy AI being dumbed down from what they saw in the previous games. Overall, the experience seems unfinished for many people.
As a result, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has Mostly Positive reviews, Metacritic's critics were harsher than players, which doesn't happen a lot, and awarded the shooter with 74 points out of 100 only.
Raphaël Colantonio, former Arkane president, the creator of Dishonored and Prey, and then founder of WolfEye Studios, disagrees with the critics' views and believes the platform is harmful to game development overall.
"The Metacritic ecosystem encourages devs to make safe boring games. As long as a game is polished at launch, you’re guaranteed a 80%, no matter how boring the game might be. Meanwhile Stalker2 gets a 73 because it’s a bit rough on the edges at launch.
Unfair, misleading," he said on X/Twitter.
He elaborated in the comments, adding that those reviews stay on the site forever, even after developers fix the bugs, which is not right, but this system makes studios opt for "easy games that are easier to polish. As soon as you offer games with tons of possibilities, you open yourself to a harder game to polish at launch."
Bad reviews punish the developer, Colantonio thinks, and players might not get a sequel because of them. Taking Cyberpunk 2077 as an example, which launched in a shameful state but eventually became one of the most important games of the recent years, he said users should not review such cases: "Get your money back, move on. Come back later if people say it’s great, or don’t if not."
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Many developers would agree, I'm sure. Goichi 'Suda51' Suda, known for Killer7, No More Heroes, and Lollipop Chainsaw, has expressed a similar sentiment, saying that it's hard to find a unique game because "everybody pays too much attention to and cares too much about Metacritic scores."
On the other hand, in 2022, Saber Interactive's CEO said Metacritic's influence on sales was decreasing as games were "sold by social media, sold by influencers, they're sold by buzz."
So does Metacritic dictate the rules? Do you agree with Colantonio? Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.