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The long-awaited return of Bioware is here! The studio responsible for many of our favorite RPGs has finally delivered its latest installment. And, well... it’s not great.
Review scores are all over the place, with audiences and critics disagreeing more than ever. It really makes you wonder: Why is there such a huge disconnect between what we're told we should like and what we know we like? We dug through some footage and noticed something... curious: Every time a Bioware employee was asked about these suspiciously glowing review scores, they would wink after denying any allegations.
Now, we’re not saying the winks were definitely a tell, but come on — it’s starting to look a little too coincidental. It seems almost impossible that a game played by so many critics in advance would have such unanimously high scores from the biggest outlets. Meanwhile, smaller YouTube reviewers seemed to wink only after their paid sponsors sections recommending fans to play Raid: Shadow legends because they “Absolutely love it!” Hmmm.
If this is truly Bioware’s strategy, it’s certainly bold. But surprisingly, there haven’t been many reports calling them out on it. We spoke with an insider at Bioware who preferred to remain anonymous. They told us, “Companies have been doing this for years. There’s no way we would’ve gotten anything above a 6 if this went out on its own merit… It’s not illegal, just really frowned upon. It’s like making eye contact through the crack in the bathroom stall — you know it’s weird, but it happens.”
We’ll see just how well this strategy pays off for Bioware in the coming months. Chances are, we’ll be reading articles touting the game’s success using vague comparative figures and zero hard numbers. Then, about 8 months down the road, expect the same reviewers who gave glowing praise to suddenly write think-pieces about why the game “fell flat” for them — as if they knew it all along.
Source: Trust me, bro.
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