Metacritic addresses Dragon Age: The Veilguard review bombing controversy

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Faces Mixed Reviews and Controversy

After a prolonged hiatus from role-playing games stemming from the Anthem controversy, BioWare made a significant return with the recent release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While critics have generally viewed the game positively, achieving a respectable rating, it has encountered a wave of backlash online, leading to review bombing by some users.

Critics vs. Users: A Stark Contrast in Ratings

On Metacritic, the game boasts a critic average score of 83, categorized as “Generally Favorable,”based on 57 reviews from established critics and creators. However, the contrast in user reviews is striking, with a low score of only 3.8 out of 10 following nearly 2,000 user submissions in the user reviews section.

This trend continues across other platforms, as reflected in the game’s Metacritic scores: the PC user score stands at a mere 2.3 out of 10, while the Xbox Series X|S version holds a slightly better score of 3.9 out of 10. A considerable number of negative reviews cite claims of “woke”propaganda as a primary grievance.

Steam Ratings Offer a Different Perspective

In contrast, Steam reviews present a more favorable picture, with a user rating of 74% or “Mostly Positive.”This rating is based on over 13,000 reviews submitted exclusively by players who purchased the game, indicating a more positive reception among them.

Addressing Review Bombing Concerns

In response to the ongoing review bombing on Metacritic, Eurogamer contacted a spokesperson from Fandom, the parent company of Metacritic. They stated:

“We take online trust and safety very seriously across all our sites including Metacritic. Metacritic has a moderation system in place to track violations of our terms of use. Our team reviews each and every report of abuse (including but not limited to racist, sexist, homophobic comments, and insults to other users) and if violations occur, the reviews are removed.”

Looking Ahead: Sales and Future Developments

While EA and BioWare have yet to disclose sales figures for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it reportedly set new records for the publisher regarding single-player releases on Steam. For now, BioWare has wrapped up development on this title, shifting their focus to the much-anticipated next installment in the Mass Effect series.

For more information, you can check out the original article on Neowin.