Gamers who are looking to buy, download, and play a new game often consider online reviews to inform their purchasing decisions. However, they’re faced with a dilemma: do they trust professional reviewers or word-of-mouth feedback from other gamers?
A Brief Overview Of Professional vs. Customer Reviews
Video game critics and everyday players write reviews from different perspectives, so it comes as no surprise that their opinions differ significantly.
Professional critics often analyze new games according to industry standards, performance, and technical mechanisms. Amateur reviewers focus on their own gameplay experience, enjoyment, and how they reacted to the game on an emotional level. These differences impact how the reviews are written and received. Expert reviews are commonly published around the title’s launch date, while customer reviews trickle in for many years, which can create a picture of the game’s long-term value.
Fascinatingly, gamer reviews often focus on emotions. They either strongly praise a game or harshly criticize it. There are fewer moderate opinions. This is useful for other gamers to spot strong reactions, but can also skew perception. Despite this, customer feedback can be predictive as to how well a game will be received by the public in the short term.
Expert reviews, however, maintain authority in the gaming industry. Many gamers turn to trusted platforms for recommendations. For example, when considering competitive esports titles and where to spend their money on betting sites, an expert review can go a long way in shaping decisions. These reviews provide opinions, deep insight, context, and technical breakdown that an average review written by a player can’t offer.
Usually, gamers take a hybrid approach, using both professional and user-generated reviews to make choices.
The Importance Of Online Reviews
Hundreds of new game titles are being launched each year, which makes reviews critical to filter out the good games from the poorly designed ones. Reviews offer insight into all types of games, whether an indie release or a triple-A title, and can provide true feedback that goes beyond the marketing hype.
Developers and publishers rely on online reviews to shape the reputation of their games and drive sales.
But reviews are also important for gamers who need to make a purchase. User reviews are the most influential type of review when it comes to reach and quantity. These short (or not so short) notes on the game are instant and relatable and can shape player perception once a game is released. Consumer behavior studies have found that user-generated reviews influence 90% of potential buyers more effectively than sales tactics. This impact tends to be magnified in gaming, where word-of-mouth and gamer sentiment can make or break a new release.
However, there’s also a place for professional reviews. These critiques are often the first feedback to appear online and have the earliest impact on public reception. Users provide volume when it comes to reviews, but experts provide in-depth analysis about all aspects of the game.
Both types of online reviews are important, but the balance of positive vs. negative feedback will depend on the game’s price, complexity, and platform.
Professional Reviews
Most professional game reviews are written by critics, industry experts, and journalists. These reviewers take a structured approach, often using the same rubric to critique a game. The focus is on set elements, including mechanics, storytelling, design, game performance, and sometimes the cultural relevance of the title.
These reviews often contain a detailed technical analysis, like gameplay loop efficiency and frame rate drops, that a player might not notice or even understand. Most players associate these professional reviews with journalistic integrity, especially if published on a longstanding site that has gained a lot of trust from the gamer community. These platforms tend to follow ethical guidelines and disclose if they’re involved in a partnership or if there are any conflicts of interest.
Professional reviews have a target audience in mind. They’re written for those readers who are deeply engaged in the gaming sector and want an unbiased, critical analysis of games. This type of feedback is especially useful in niche categories, like esports titles or simulators. Despite this need for unbiased feedback, some experts are influenced by their relationship with the developer, like advertising partnerships or early access privileges. This has resulted in more trust being placed in user reviews.
Customer-Generated Reviews
Feedback from peers tends to feel more authentic. It’s one of the best ways for gamers to share honest and unfiltered opinions.
According to customer feedback surveys, 46% of consumers trust the reviews of other gamers more than professional ones, while only 12% want expert opinions. This trust is because peer reviews are more relatable and completely unbiased.
However, gamers should keep in mind that user reviews are by no means perfect and might not encapsulate the entire gaming experience. They can be reactionary, vague, and even fake. Some disgruntled gamers may decide the game is too tough or focus on a single bug found in a new release. This negative emotional reaction can mislead other gamers, making them believe an otherwise amazing game will deliver a bad experience.
Factors Influencing Trust In Game Reviews
Gamers don’t blindly follow either professional or user-generated reviews. There are several factors that most consider when deciding which reviews to trust:
- Authenticity: There’s a desire for reviews that feel real and sincere.
- Expertise: Professional reviews are preferred by many for their technical depth, especially in games that require a deeper understanding, like competitive multiplayer games.
- Details and specificity: Reviews that include specifics, like performance on different consoles and gameplay details, are considered more credible.
- Volume and diversity: Games with reviews from various users are more likely to be considered over games with just a dozen reviews.
- Balance: Reviews that highlight the pros and cons will be considered more trustworthy than ones that are overly positive or negative.
- Reputation: The reviewer’s reputation, whether a user with several reviews to their name or a famous Twitch streamer, will impact how their opinion is received.
Final Thoughts
The choice between trusting professional or gamer reviews is not easy and is based on the context around the reviewer and the game. Expert reviews often give a good initial impression of the title, whereafter customer reviews should be considered as the game gets played by more people.
Steam, Reddit, and Metacritic have made it easy to find expert and user feedback for free, and it’s important that gamers consider both types of feedback before making choices.
