Earlier today Valve broke the news that Steam reviews left by anyone using a key will no longer count towards a game’s overall or recent score.
The company said it was forced to make the change as it’s now too easy for rogue developers to artificially inflate review scores using keys.
Although Valve said some fraudulent reviews are “clear and obvious,” it admitted that detecting when developers are abusing the system has become increasingly difficult. With that in mind, it’s decided to cut them off at the source.
It’s a decision that’s been met with mixed feedback from all corners of the industry, with some suggesting the move has been made with the Steam community’s best interests in mind, and will do more harm than good in the long run.
Others, namely developers who’re already feeling the impact of having positive reviews snatched away overnight, have expressed frustration at being put to the sword by the tech giant.
Smaller devs in particular feel hurt by the move, and they’re clearly disappointed that Valve offered no protection to those who’ve given away legitimate keys through third-party stores and initiatives such as Itch.io, Kickstarter, and Humble.
To give you a sense of the general mood right now, we’ve rounded up a selections of opnions shared on Twitter: