Many sites such as IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and OpenCritic have been in our lives for a long time. These sites, which have their own specific scoring systems, also serve in similar and different branches. Although Metacritic also includes movie, TV shows and album ratings, we can say that it is a site that has the most impact on the gaming world.
These sites integrate the ratings given by the reviews published by the press organizations into their systems and together with their averages, they form an overall score. Thus, we can understand to what extent that game or product is recommended/recommended by professional critics. Although these systems may seem innocent, they can have some negative consequences for developers. Let’s take a deep look at these sites together.
Metacritic’s effects on the gaming world:
- For those who don’t know: What is Metacritic and OpenCritic?
- Why is the Metacritic score so important?
- What impact does Metacritic have on game developers?
For those who don’t know: What is this Metacritic and OpenCritic?
Metacritic; Although it appears as a website that evaluates games, movies, albums and TV programs; we will touch on its importance in terms of games. Metacritic, which takes the average of the scores given by the press organizations and calculates it according to its own algorithm, creates the overall score of the game under the name of ‘Metascore’.
To give an example; Elden Ring’s PlayStation 5 reviews were averaged by 79 different media outlets. Elden Ring, which managed to score 96 out of 100, together with the averages of press reviews received by Metacritic, had a great impact on the game world at the time it was released. These scores were published shortly before the game’s release, and it was able to raise the level of expectation on many players even higher.
Some users even decided to pre-order the game after seeing the rating, while they were hesitant to buy the game before this average rating. In addition, Metacritic has a scoring system open to every user under the name of ‘User Score’. Although this is a system where you can give the desired score out of 10 for a game you like or dislike, it is not given much importance by the users.
The reason for this is; Metacritic does not ask you for any information prior to these scores. If you want, you can even make this ‘User Score’ rating anonymously. This system, which does not have the logic of ‘inspecting the game you own’ on Steam, is not taken into account because malicious people affect the scoring quite easily
OpenCritic is the same Metacritic A website that has its own scoring system. OpenCritic, which lists game reviews published by media outlets and averages points, is considered more considered by some users than Metacritic. The biggest reason for this is; Unlike Metacritic, it does not separate games from platform to platform.
For example; Elden Ring, which we have just mentioned. The game, which managed to get 96 points from Metacritic in PlayStation 5 reviews; It scored 94 on PC and 96 on Xbox Series X. In this way, Metacritic separates the games by the platform they are reviewed, offering their own average score for each platform. OpenCritic does not have such a system. The website, which takes the average score of all platforms directly examined, offers a healthier scoring system than some users.
Why is the Metacritic score so important?
Every year; hundreds or even thousands of games are released. As players, we do not even hear the names of many of them, and we hear the names of many of them unintentionally. Since we do not have the opportunity to try and experience each of these thousands of games released every year, scoring systems such as Metacritic come into play.
The publishers of these games, to the reviewing press organizations; He offers a press code before the game’s release and requests that his game be reviewed by critics (press organizations can also often request a review code). These press organizations, which examine the game in detail from all aspects, give their scores according to the existing unique scoring systems and publish their reviews on their websites. On Metacritic, he averages these scores and creates his own ‘Metascore’.
Players who are undecided about whether to buy a game or are curious about the opinions of critics can log in to Metacritic, examine the scores given by the institutions they trust, and make their decisions much more easily. Of course, it would be quite wrong to say that this scoring system is ‘perfect’. After all, the critics who review these games give these ratings purely in their own opinion.
Also, thanks to organizations like Metacritic; some overlooked independent productions can also attract quite a lot of attention. In this way, you can discover games you haven’t even heard of, and say to yourself, “This is a good score. I’ll give this a chance.”
Considering that the game prices are increasing and the time we can spare for ourselves has really shortened, it is quite normal for some users to hesitate when choosing a game and try to get ideas through various sites. Also, a low ‘Metascore’ doesn’t always mean ‘That game is bad’. While critics’ reviews and opinions about the game are important, the most important thing is always whether you will enjoy the game or not.
If you’re a gamer who likes to sail into new game genres, organizations like Metacritic can come in handy. However, if you prefer online games and like to stick to a single game, such systems may not make much sense to you.
What impact does Metacritic have on game developers?
Although we have talked about the functioning and positive aspects of the system until this part of our article; There are also some downsides for game developers. For example; John Garvin, who directed Days Gone at Bend Studio, a studio owned by PlayStation, made a statement that the Metacritic score was very important.
Saying, “If you are a creative director at a game brand and your game is released with a Metacritic score of 70, you will not be able to stay as a director in that series for a long time.” Garvin explained in detail how Sony attaches importance to the Metacritic score. . He emphasized that Days Gone was a very successful game, selling more than nine million copies, and said that despite this, they were considered ‘failed’ by the company.
Although Metacritic is not to blame for such events, companies in the game world really care about these scores. While some companies push their employees to work harder, including under bad conditions, with a higher score, some companies may resort to methods such as giving additional bonuses if a high score is reached.
It should not be forgotten that the main purpose of each company serving in the gaming industry is to ‘make more money’. The fact that Metacritic is cared for by the players also causes it to be cared for by the companies. While this has some positive aspects like almost everything else, it also has some negative aspects. So what do you guys think about Metacritic? Do you think this scoring system is fair?
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