Do Clickbait Reviews Actually Exist? Xbox Head Phil Spencer Thinks So

GameRevolution: "Some people call it conspiracy. Others call it a reason to throw a temper tantrum. Clickbait reviews are commonly talked about in the gaming industry virtually every time a new AAA release arrives. Usually it's gamers that are busy talking about it, but this week one of gaming's most well-known executives took a moment to address it."

[littlefatgirl]

The words "thin-skinned" come to mind.

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

The little fat girl should be a master at being thick-skinned.

[Rearden]

"We reviewed this game and you won't believe what score we gave it!"

[DragonDDark]

I mean they do exist but why bring this up now?

[JonnyBigBoss]

He refers to Forza Horizon 3 which just came out.

[zeuanimals]

He also doesn't get that a 2/5 isn't a 4/10 when it's closer to something like a D. 1 is an F and 5 is an A. You wouldn't go to a 4/10 restaurant since you would probably die, but you probably often go to a 2/5 restaurant. Most fast food restaurants are 2/5s, they're Ds.

Just think about it, what types of games get 4/10s? I'm not talking about 2/5 multiplied by 2, I'm talking about a reviewer specifically writing 4/10. Broken games get 4/10s. Games that don't work get 2/10s, doesn't make any sense to have a 5 point grading system that seriously takes those 3 into account, you'd have no nuance with the rest of the scale. A 3 could be good or bad and it'd be too confusing to tell if what it really meant was "anywhere between 6 and 7.9/10".

The real reason he brought this up is because of ReCore. He's claiming it can't be as bad as people are saying it is, those people are just trying to get clicks, just look at what they did to Forza Horizon 3.

[Cy]

This article itself is kind of clickbaity, because the bit about what Spencer said is barely three sentences quoted from a different article, and the rest is what the person who wrote *this* article thinks about reviews. I mean, I mostly agree with the guy, but it's kind of funny.

[dms5223]

Exactly. His comments were in regards to forza and recore.

[game4funz]

Yes they do. They generate revenue which generates money.

[rlow1]

Well, if anyone doesn't think they exist. Then I have the investment deal of the century and it involves flying pigs with some type of alien probing device.

[SliceOfTruth888]

He is right.....The problem is reviewers are not looked for "just their opinion" anymore. We want to know if the game is good or not. Forza Horizon 3 should not be getting a 4 out of 10 from anyone. The quality of the game is superb and even if you dont like it, to give it a score that resembles the same as shovelware is an embarrassment to the gaming community. I hate God of war i think its boring hack n slash, but if i were a reviewer id never give it below an 8 because although i didnt like it, i can tell why someone who loves the genre would love it to death and that is what the job of a reviewer should be.

[lastking95]

Biggest click bait this gen was horizon 2 2/10. Reviewer didn't even try to hide it lol.

[Tctczach]

I feel like failing news sites are trying to get some traction with clickbait reviews but, I doubt they carry the weight to make an impact. Like the website that posted the GOW4 review called the Financial Post. Really?

[rainslacker]

The financial post review was mostly positive, with a few negatives thrown in about some technical issues, and a bit of discussion on the SP campaign. They didn't actually assign a score. The person who posted it here assigned the score based on what Metacritic decided the content represented, which they said was a 7.

Otherwise, yes, most click bait reviews do come from smaller sites that no one has heard of, but even the big sites have been known to delve into that territory from time to time. Kotaku being an offender on some Japanese games, but that's more agenda driven than trying to go against the grain.

[JohnCB98]

This had nothing to do with Gears if you read the article and full comment of Phil. It was taken out of context. He was referring to Forza

[rainslacker]

I know, I was responding to tctc who was making his point based on the gears review.

[RGB]

"You can't have your cake and eat it."
I remember when PS4's Uncharted 4 got a 4/10 (a lot of 4s) when mostly bad games get 5s and 6s these days. Uncharted 4 was never a 4, nor a 5 or a 6 but that's the score it got. It works both ways and Gears 4 getting a few 7s isn't anywhere near as bad as a nonsense score like a 4/10 for a Game of the Year contender.

[MasterCornholio]

Plus that Uncharted 4 review was written like a joke review.

[Razzer]

Welcome to the internet, Phil.

edit: joking

[Skankinruby]

Phil is definitely right, click bait reviews are pathetic. Like the idiot who gave uncharted 4 like a 3 or 4 out of 10 and titled his review 'Thank god it's a thiefs end'. Some idiots can't impress the public the traditional way so they go for shock value it's ridiculous.

[Razzer]

I agree. I don't know that I have seen such wide spreads of review scores like we have seen this generation. And it almost is always an exclusive game that attracts these click bait articles.

But the simple fact is that any dude (like the Thieves End reviewer you mentioned) can throw up a wordpress site with a decent looking theme and pretend they are the next IGN or Gamespot. What they can't do is create content that is worth a damn. So they go the tabloid route to try to make something out of nothing. And it never works.

[gangsta_red]

Clickbait is getting thrown around far to often nowadays and it seems to only cater to when a person doesn't agree with a review only.

I'm sure there have been just as many 'clickbait' review scores that gave a game a 9 or a 10 that they knew full well didn't deserve it.

[SpaceRanger]

I agree with you @gangsta_red. I think a lot of people misuse the term to denounce someone else's opinion or another reviewer's.

However, if the article can't substantially give evidence for its score. Then I would definitely see it as clickbait. Unfortunately, that's not the case for some games that are just truly lacking in either single player or multiplayer or both.

[TheColbertinator]

That's the way the industry set itself up. Microsoft made a big deal about Metacritic last gen despite the questionable reviews. Then Sony struts around Metacritic this gen yet their biggest game gets a 4/10.

Your opinion is most important to you. Stop flinging mud at people since you end up covered with most of it at the end of the day.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

I doubt Sony cares about that one clickbait review score of 4 when it finished with an average of 93

[MasterCornholio]

"Then Sony struts around Metacritic this gen yet their biggest game gets a 4/10. "

Uncharted 4 has a metacritic much higher than 40%. It's actually 92 which is extremely high.

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

You need to fix that comment.

"Then Sony struts around Metacritic this gen yet their biggest game gets a 4/10 from one website and Sony doesn't even complain about it. "

Believe thats more accurate.

[Silly gameAr]

Now they exist because Phil says so...

[Norcal360]

They are a great marketing tool, good or bad. That is the reality of click bait articles. Seems to work well lol

[Xavy]

lol the lier and his team is always on twitter creating click-bite information and in the same time are against it`? Never change MS never change.

[lastking95]

Answering questions=click bait? Yeah! Duh people wanna know his opinion or answer to certain questions. What's phils fav game this gen? Super click bait right there lol

[JohnCB98]

The integrity of journalism in general went out the window the moment the internet came into the picture. It's all about attention and money now. Moral is...rent the game and judge it for yourself before you buy.

[ClickbaitAF]

Yes Phil, I exist.

[_LarZen_]

There is no doubt in my mind that many are doing this. It's generating insane amount of traffic and add revenue spike.

[SCW1982]

They absolutely exist.

[Artemidorus]

They get paid or have exclusive deals given to them (like first access) in return for a reasonable review.

Not just games that do this but many more types.

Never ever trust a review, if you are unsure then wait for someone to live stream and judge from there.

[gigoran]

clickbait: a word used to describe every piece of trash written by bukaku

[bleedsoe9mm]

xbox fans know to add 3 or 4 points to metacritic scores for click bait and xb1 hate

[feraldrgn]

It goes from 1 to 10.
If a game gets a score below 5, that's not clickbait, that's just the reviewer's opinion, though they will have to back it up with legitimate complaints.
The whole point of reviews is to write their opinion & score a game.

Can a reviewer deliberately score a game lower than the majority to offset the meta? Of course, but that doesn't make it necessarily "clickbait".

edit: Oh wait, this article itself is clickbait.
Personally, I kind of prefer the out of 5 score.

[Chaos_Order]

Sorry, but if anything, I'd like to see MORE reviewers have the balls to actually give games 5/10 and under if they don't like it, and for gamers to be more accepting of opinions instead of shouting "CLICKBAIT" from the rooftops. 5/10 should mean average, but it doesn't anymore because gamers flip their lids at any score out of place leading to publications inflating their scores to appease the masses.

If a reviewer plays a game and doesn't like it, even if it's the most technically impressive game on the planet, has had a ridiculous amount of time and effort put into it, they should not feel pressured into giving it a good score just because gamers will get mad. All this "you shouldn't be able to give Forza / Bloodborne / TLoU a low score because reasons" is just butthurt gamers unwilling to accept outlying opinions. And as for digging up previous review scores and saying "Look! They reviewed this other game higher! But that game wasn't as good!" Just... Just get over it already and stop acting like you've uncovered a conspiracy.

Sure, clickbait reviews must exist somewhere. But I don't think they're in anywhere near the frequency that many gamers believe.

[corroios]

of course they are. When companies give money to sites...

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

And I bet he thinks they only act against the underwhelming xbox exclusives