There are not a lot of games in the community that have ever managed to make quite the impact that Ghost of Tsushima did. Shimmering with beautiful graphics, a great storyline, and an outstanding depiction of Feudal Japan, this game immediately secured its top place in the minds of many gamers. However, this beloved title has recently found itself caught in the center of some controversies, spiraling down and losing its standing on Steam.
Ghost of Tsushima already getting review bombed…
byu/IcePopsicleDragon inSteam
The first issue took place when a lot of players reported issues they faced with connectivity and being unable to synchronize the progress of the game between platforms. That surely left those who expected something relatively smooth with a bad taste in their mouth. All that means now is that a PSN account needs to be unlocked to get those features even as a Steam player, and most PC gamers think that is something of a needless imposition, especially for those who prefer playing on separate platforms.
Worry has started to grow over the privacy and data-sharing concerns between Steam and PSN because there is a fear among gamers that their gameplay data may be transferred across networks without appropriate consent and used inappropriately in the mishandling of personal information.
To respond to these issues, Ghost of Tsushima has received a wave of negative reviews on Steam. Players are going down the list, showing their anger over technical issues and their discontent over the PSN account requirement. In response, the game has taken a hit in its overall Steam rating. What was once a well-regarded game now suffers the loss of its reputation, which might discourage potential new players from buying the game. There are complaints and threads about it now. Many people are already demanding that Sucker Punch Productions and Sony respond to the situation as it stands.
The opposite argument is also in place regarding the possibility of letting players have the option to access some features without linking them to their PSN account. However, the developers have made sure that there will be better privacy protection and data security for every user who opts to link to the account.
Sony has now also implemented a similar PSN account requirement like what happened with Helldivers 2 recently so that the players can play features of Ghost of Tsushima’s multiplayer. The fact that it was first launched on PS4, this fact might allow for that argument to be made, but it changes the single-player campaign too: gamers in all 180 countries won’t even be able to buy the game. In what is the most galling added blow to many fans, some have had pre-orders canceled unceremoniously at the very last moment before launch.
In the case of Ghost of Tsushima, this backlash is most visible, where the narrative tension of the game is, in fact, reflected in the mixed review score on Steam that it’s shouldering at the present moment: 82.70%, according to chart current from SteamDB. The chart, in blue and red, indicates 5,293 positive reviews, contrasting sharply with 916 negative reviews. Most of the negative reviews focus on the concern of PSN account requirements.
The disappointment is great at seeing launches like this one—so awaited but messed up by the publisher’s decisions. Despite the uproar, Sony seems to be determined to stick to its policy toward its intellectual properties, which will only further muddy the waters for PC players, already trying to find their way around the gaming jungle of Steam, GOG, Xbox, Ubisoft Connect, EA, and Rockstar Games Launcher, among others.
A very interesting question arises here: Are we going to get a dedicated PlayStation Launcher, much like the ones from EA or Ubisoft, where all the titles from Sony are going to be found? It is nothing certain, but it is one huge question that one more time pops up when talking about gaming company futures.
A clear presentation of how seriously the gaming community takes the concern of platform integration and privacy is in the review bombing of the Steam page of Ghost of Tsushima. That is a needed reminder of transparency that has to be of the order when dealing with data. As it tries to bypass the current problems that developers are at work on, the game is still in good books as its reputation recovers and whether the trust of the player base can also be brought back.
