As of today, the recent and overall review scores we show at the top of a product page will no longer include reviews written by customers that activated the game through a Steam product key.
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Valve isn’t suggesting it can nip planted reviews in the bud, but the company said that filtering out game reviews based on Steam keys of any kind could keep it from influencing the average customer.
Valve claims that some developers have been abusing their free Steam keys and using them to artificially bolster a game’s positive review rating, either simply by encouraging recipients to leave positive feedback on a store page, or by employing slightly more nefarious tactics.
“We know this review score has become a valuable shortcut for customers to gauge how well the game is matching customer expectations”.
As detailed on the official Steam store, the update will be affecting reviews written by users who activated the game via a Steam key.
This change follows pervasive issues surrounding the review system on Steam, which has been historically abused and misused by developers and users alike. Some developers organise their own system using Steam keys on alternate accounts. “Most changes in the review score category are a result of games being on the edge of review score cut-offs such as 69 percent positive or 70 percent positive. Some organizations even offer paid services to write positive reviews”. Where that’s the case, Valve will ban false reviews and end business relationships with developers who continue to violate the rules.
As developers seeking to inflate their scores mainly do so by distributing codes to players (in exchange for shining reviews) Valve hopes this small adjustment will reduce the problem.
Many Steam users rely on the review system to determine the value of a game, and Valve is focussed on creating an effective system that is immune to abuse. Valve added that a change of one per cent in edge cases (69 per cent positive or 70 per cent positive) can mean the difference between a review score category of “mixed” and “positive”. There are, of course, legitimate reasons why this could be true for a game: Some games have strong audiences off Steam, and some games have passionate early adopters or Kickstarter backers that are much more invested in the game.
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