Valve Crushes Developer For Offering Free Games For Steam Reviews
26Valve removed all reviews for an RPG called Epic Quest of the 4 Crystals after accusing the developer of offering compensation - in the form of steam keys - in exchange for the reviews players made. Valve removed the reviews and accused further accused the developer of manipulating their review system.
When Valve discovered the issue, they were clearly unhappy and released this statement on the game's forums:
“It’s come to our attention that Aldorlea Games and RosePortal Games have given gifts or otherwise compensated some Steam customers to get them to leave reviews for the game Epic Quest of the Four Crystals. This is a manipulation of the user review system, which we don’t allow.”
Valve went on to say:
“Advertising laws in many countries require you to disclose any compensation for your review. If you received anything from a publisher or developer in exchange for a user review please say so in your review.”
The problem was caused by the fact that many players never disclosed RosePortal's (the developer of the game) promotion in their reviews. Since Valve could not tell who was participating in the promotion or not, they removed all the videos. This is a big deal because these reviews are used in aggragate to determine whether or not a game is good. I believe the reviews have since been replaced.
The moral of the story here is to ALWAYS disclose when a developer or a publisher hooks you up with a free or review copy of their game in your reviews.
Original Article on Kotaku - http://steamed.kotaku.com/steam-dev-offers-free-games-in-exchange-for-user-review-1733883515
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More Info on Epic Quest of the 4 Crystals:
The most non-Japanese JRPG ever! Epic Quest is an action-packed adventure with over a dozen classic and rich environments, 5 playable characters and a plethora of skills, spells and Limit Breaks. A must-have for fans of the SNES Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger!
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