Review aggregator Metacritic has finally responded to Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC review bombing campaign, which has been ongoing for a number of days. The issue of user score review bombing isn’t new, but this time, parent company Fandom has released a rare statement in which it has pledged changes.
HFW: Burning Shores review bombing campaign targets Aloy’s sexuality (spoilers)
For those who haven’t played the game or its DLC, Burning Shores finally confirmed what the series has previously hinted: Aloy is queer. Players can choose to romance her new companion Seyka, which has resulted in hateful and abusive one-star reviews on Metacritic. The onslaught has completely drowned out any legitimate criticisms of the DLC.
In a statement to Eurogamer, Metacritic/Fandom has confirmed that it’ll be introducing new tools and policies to combat the now all-too-familiar review bombing campaigns. The statement reads:
Fandom is a place of belonging for all fans and we take online trust and safety very seriously across all our sites including Metacritic. Metacritic is aware of the abusive and disrespectful reviews of Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores and we have a moderation system in place to track violations of our terms of use. Our team reviews each and every report of abuse (including but not limited to racist, sexist, homophobic, insults to other users, etc) and if violations occur, the reviews are removed. We are currently evolving our processes and tools to introduce stricter moderation in the coming months.
Better late than never.
