In the USA, a new law could ensure that you are no longer allowed to give false reviews in the future, but you are actually supposed to benefit from it.
Where does the law come from? In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC for short, is responsible for rules in the areas of consumer protection and merger control. It is similar to the cartel office, but is allowed to issue its own rules for its area, which apply like laws. If these are broken, the FTC can sue companies and impose fines.
Some new FTC rules have now come into force and could also affect the video game industry.
Danger: At MeinMMO our expertise lies in video games and entertainment, we are not lawyers. We can only give estimates or obtain our statements from other sources.
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No more fake reviews
What are the new rules about? According to the commission chair, the FTC’s new rules concern “fake online reviews and recommendations.” These are now banned so that customers can rely on the reviews when purchasing a product.
The following were banned (via ftc.gov):
What impact does this have on gamers? If the developer works contrary to the wishes of the players, it can not only lead to an outcry on social media, but also review bombing. Here, players give negative ratings for the game to express their dissatisfaction with the current situation.
The first rule means this may no longer be possible in the future. Among other things, reviews are banned that “misrepresent the experience of the person giving them” (via ftc.gov). This could also include negative reviews that were only given in protest against a decision by the developer; after all, it is not about the player’s experience with the game.
Where could the rules apply? An example in which the rules would have been effective would be Helldivers 2. The players gave negative reviews in order to defend themselves against the obligation to have a PSN account, which in some regions was not even possible to create.
With the new rules, these reviews would probably all be banned, as they neither evaluate the game, its mechanics and graphics nor the users’ experiences with it, but were given exclusively in protest against the PSN requirement.
How noticeable the changes will be remains to be seen, however, as Steam itself is already taking action against review bombing and usually removes such reviews. According to the platform, developers who want to manipulate their reviews have also been banned for a long time (via GameStar).
The rules are intended to help consumers to be able to trust reviews more again. Review bombing sometimes distorts product reviews forever. Whether the new rules can prevent this remains to be seen. Another law could also change the video game industry forever: A law could prevent publishers from taking your favorite games and progress away from you – here’s how you can help