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submitted 2 days ago by sundray@lemmus.org to c/games@lemmy.world
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[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Actual astroturfing often has a paper trail. "Citizens Concerned About the Whatever" publicly listed as funded by companies who directly stand to benefit from Whatever's opposition. If it was so easy to buy good review scores, why did Microsoft not purchase them for Redfall? Why did Sony not purchase them for that 2D God of War game? Why did AnnaPurna buy them for this game but not the dozens of other games they publish? Why is the Steam user rating for Mixtape also very high if it could only achieve such ratings via bribery? Is the only explanation for Mixtape's reviews that they were paid off? Or, perhaps, could it be a bunch of people who don't have to prove that they've even played the game leaving 0/10 reviews on Metacritic en masse because they were riled up by Asmongold or some other influencer who traffics in getting their audience mad about "woke"?

[-] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 hours ago

I don't know. I've never heard of the game before this post. I'm just pointing out the ridiculousness of hoping for the astroturfers and shills to out themselves because they're feeling guilty.

[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Oh no, not even because they're feeling guilty. If anything, those same YouTubers who get their audience angry for a living would have a monetary incentive to present proof if it existed. Actual astroturfers advertise their services on LinkedIn, and in order for this conspiracy to work, you'd have to pay off people who don't astroturf for a living.

[-] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 points 15 hours ago

But by that logic, astroturfing simply wouldn't work, when we know for a fact it works very well.

[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

Astroturfing works where everyone is anonymous, but I don't know how you expect it to work when every reviewer has a byline and an incentive to reveal corruption.

this post was submitted on 30 May 2026
206 points (97.7% liked)

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