MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
EA’s latest free-to-play game Dungeon Keeper is attempting to filter one to four star reviews from the Google Play Store by redirecting users to a feedback form.
As reported by Pocket Gamer, after a small period of play, the app asks users to rate their experience, offering the options of five stars, and one to four stars.
Those who tap on the lower scores are directed to a feedback form in which EA asks how it can make the title better.
Users who click on five stars are directed to the Google Play page, where they can make their review.
It should be noted that players still have the option to rate the game below five stars once on the page.
In response to the matter, an EA spokesperson has said the ‘rate this app’ prompt was designed to make it easier to obtain feedback from users who didn’t enjoy the experience.
"We’re always looking at new ways to gather player feedback so that we can continue to improve our games," read a statement.
"The ‘rate this app’ feature in the Google Play version of Dungeon Keeper was designed to help us collect valuable feedback from players who don’t feel the game is worth a top rating.
"We wanted to make it easier for more players to send us feedback directly from the game if they weren’t having the best experience. Players can always continue to leave any rating they want on the Google Play Store."
Dungeon Keeper has found itself at the centre of controversy as users and developers alike claimed the game’s use of in-app purchases is too aggressive, and does not focus enough on rewarding gameplay.
Speaking to TabTimes, senior producer Jeff Skalski at developer Mythic suggested that the high ratings on the Google Play store showed many consumers were enjoying the game, despite the angry reactions online. Since that interview however, the game’s rating has continued to fall.
"One of the important data points we’re looking at is our store ratings and downloads," he said.
"At the time of this interview, App Store ratings currently sit at four out of five stars and Google Play ratings sit at 4.5 out of five stars. We’re also seeing a lot of game downloads and in-game engagement so that tells us there is a large group of people who are playing and enjoying the game. Obviously, this is counter to some of the angry reactions we’ve seen around the internet, so we’re still trying to look at all of these data points."
