Very obvious fake reviews

[Mr Scumbag]

The game is here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2717080/Merry_XMerge/

The same developer/publisher seems to be faking reviews for all of their games. If you look at the review graph for the game, it's completely ignored for weeks/months at a time, then there's 30-100 reviews all dropped on the same day. The accounts that review the game all have around two reviews and their other reviewed games are games from the same developer. Also, every review has between 550-560 hours in game. It's the most obvious example of review manipulation I've ever seen in my 20+ years on Steam.

The funny thing is that I would have bought it if weren't for the fake reviews. I'm tempted to buy it, review it and warn people of the fake reviews, then refund it.

Anyway, I thought I'd mention it here because I reported it but doubt that anything will be done about it. It doesn't seem like any of my reports ever go anywhere.

[Ms.Communication13]

Holy crap, this is beyond obvious. Every single review claims that the account has over 500 hours playing the game. I can't imagine anyone dying to sit and play 500 hours of this crummy basic looking game that doesn't even appear to be all that old. Thanks for pointing this out I've definitely never seen anything this shameless on Steam so far.

[Chika Ogiue]

Several of the recent reviews are AI generated.

Just use the flag icon on the store page and select whichever option you feel is closest to your complaint and submit your report.

[videomike_Ultimate_Plushie]

Agreed, report the page and reviews both(make sure the reports alll mention this)
Edit: oh and keep updated on it over about a month or two have the report. If nothing gets changed then bring it up again so people remember. If all of us can keep track of one game that does this it'll do a lot to prevent this kind of fraud, because bots are an issue we dont yet have an answer to, not untiol their complete enough to have a counter bot

[Mr Scumbag]

Originally posted by videomike_Ultimate_Plushie:

Agreed, report the page and reviews both(make sure the reports alll mention this)
Edit: oh and keep updated on it over about a month or two have the report. If nothing gets changed then bring it up again so people remember. If all of us can keep track of one game that does this it'll do a lot to prevent this kind of fraud, because bots are an issue we dont yet have an answer to, not untiol their complete enough to have a counter bot

I'd encourage everyone to take a look at the game I linked and if they agree that the reviews are fake, submit their own report (or copy/paste my explanation). Multiple reports will raise the chances that something will be done, I imagine.

This kind of dishonesty really bothers me and I think any developers or publishers who do this should be permanently banned from the Steam marketplace.

[Chika Ogiue]

Asking others to mass report will only be considered harassment.

[󠄉󠀁󠀁󠁿󠁿]

Originally posted by Mr Scumbag:

Originally posted by videomike_Ultimate_Plushie:

Agreed, report the page and reviews both(make sure the reports alll mention this)
Edit: oh and keep updated on it over about a month or two have the report. If nothing gets changed then bring it up again so people remember. If all of us can keep track of one game that does this it'll do a lot to prevent this kind of fraud, because bots are an issue we dont yet have an answer to, not untiol their complete enough to have a counter bot

I'd encourage everyone to take a look at the game I linked and if they agree that the reviews are fake, submit their own report (or copy/paste my explanation). Multiple reports will raise the chances that something will be done, I imagine.

This kind of dishonesty really bothers me and I think any developers or publishers who do this should be permanently banned from the Steam marketplace.

Yup or we are looking this be a trend think of a scenario where that would be the trend would in that world those reviews really matter anymore.

[Mr Scumbag]

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Asking others to mass report will only be considered harassment.

I was very careful to suggest people look at the reviews for themselves and then report only if they believed that they were fake.

[Бобок]

Wow, great find. But next time they won’t ALL have ~555 hours in the game and it will end impossible to prove anything.

[Бобок]

Browsing the reviews, i also found this, looks hilarious to me. People spoil any good thing they can. https://steamcommunity.com/search/users/#text=farmforlove

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by Mr Scumbag:

I was very careful to suggest people look at the reviews for themselves and then report only if they believed that they were fake.

Still asking other people to report, no matter how you try to sugar coat it. Technically, even linking to the specific game can be considered against the rules here under "public accusations".

[Mr Scumbag]

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Originally posted by Mr Scumbag:

I was very careful to suggest people look at the reviews for themselves and then report only if they believed that they were fake.

Still asking other people to report, no matter how you try to sugar coat it. Technically, even linking to the specific game can be considered against the rules here under "public accusations".

Go ahead and report me if it offends you so much. At least it guarantees a Steam moderator will see this thread about the fake reviews.

[Бобок]

Originally posted by Mr Scumbag:

At least it guarantees a Steam moderator will see this thread about the fake reviews.

But it’s probably outside the scope of a forum moderator to take care of publishers’ abuses.

[76561199648916059]

I don't have to look to know this kinda abuse exists on steam, you pointed out a obvious one, try looking deeper into not so obvious games and you will notice the same patterns , this type of review fraud is all across the steam platform even on some renown games which have some weird over inflated review numbers, buyer beware , make a choice for yourself with online game reviews before you purchase, steam frowns upon purchasing and refunding.

make sure you research all games before you buy them.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Majestically Awkward:

I don't have to look to know this kinda abuse exists on steam, you pointed out a obvious one

Kind of like individuals abusing alts to avoid punishment these days.

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Report the game via the store page .

Definitely report the product on the Store Page if it's making blatant fake reviews and has a very obvious pattern to it.

Originally posted by Mr Scumbag:

The funny thing is that I would have bought it if weren't for the fake reviews. I'm tempted to buy it, review it and warn people of the fake reviews, then refund it.

I would recommend just reporting the product on the store page, you can still warn people in general if you see them wishlisting it or getting it, especially if they're under 2Hrs in 2 Weeks. Fake engagement in this case; reviews, just like people on alts trying to spread misinformation and cause problems, is something Valve needs to get better at dealing with rather than tolerating intentional deception.

[J4MESOX4D]

Rare you see every single positive review on the home page that's fake. All the accounts have 550-558 hours on record. The only one legitimate review on there is a negative one. I doubt anything will be done about it though and there's no correct category for users to report such games which suggests Valve aren't interested.