Update: To be clear, Dean Rymer isn’t in a position to actually pull ad campaigns. Take that for what you will.
Original: Just when you thought the drama surrounding The Order: 1886 couldn’t get any worse…
It goes without saying that the teams responsible for developing The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn and SCE Santa Monica Studio) are unhappy with its critical performance. The game now sits at a 65 Metascore, a far cry from the expectations during development that it’d be a blockbuster hit with its progressive presentation and unique setting. Frankly, some team members are outraged, and maybe rightfully so.
One developer has been outspoken about his disappointment. His name is Dean Rymer, and he’s a Senior Combat Designer at Santa Monica Studios. He shared the following this morning on Twitter:
These two tweets have since been deleted.
I can understand where Rymer is coming from with the first comment, but wasn’t everyone just complaining a few months ago that game reviews have been far too lenient over the years, gravitating toward the 7 – 10 mark instead of using the full range like film reviews? Maybe we all just need to adapt to the fact that it’s probably tougher than ever to achieve a Metascore of 80 or higher—I haven’t changed my reviews, I’m just speaking in general.
Related: The Order: 1886 Review – The Legend of Insufficiency
Everything else he says is alarming, teetering toward being new GamerGate material. Ignoring the review copy side of things, there isn’t much that can be more controversial than ad revenue and “paying for high scores” when it comes to the video game industry, and Rymer has made a public comment that points toward there being discrimination when it comes to paid ads. If you’ve ever wondered if websites benefit from giving high scores, you may have just found your answer.
For the record, my 6/10 review for The Order: 1886 had nothing to do with me “hating games”. I simply didn’t enjoy the experience, as explained in my review.
