Xbox boss says some reviewers give low scores for clicks

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that he believes in some instances consumer sites give games low review scores to try and generate traffic.

He made the claim when asked by GameSpot about the relatively lukewarm reception afforded to recent Xbox release ReCore.

I wish it reviewed higher, but I don’t necessarily look at the reviews as a reflection of the game’s importance to us. The game is selling well, which I like. The gamers’ response to the game has been positive, which is the most important thing,” he said.

On the reviews, honestly I thought some of the reviews were a little harsh in terms of their view on the game… I think seven, eight, nine, like anywhere in there is fine. Three or four… I mean somebody gave Forza Horizon 3 a four. I think there’s certain reviews that are written more to get clicked on than they are to actually accurately reflect the quality of the game, and that kind of bums me out.”

Spencer also expressed frustration with the attitude of some fans, too.

When ReCore came out and there were some of the lower scores that were given, I would have PlayStation fans tweet me, happy that ReCore wasn’t getting great review scores from some outlets,” he added.

I just thought it was such a negative thing for our industry for somebody to be gleeful that somebody gave a game a review that was lower than what the team expected.”