As far as Xbox Live Indie Games are concerned, outside of what little word-of-mouth promotion a title receives, the only other real way awareness is raised is through the top-rated games section on the Xbox dashboard. It’s, well, pretty crummy.
Unfortunately, the current system for rating games between one and five stars allows anyone with a free Xbox.com account to rate as they wish; even if they don’t play the full game, the trial, or anything. This is causing problems for developers likeZeboyd Games, maker ofCthulhu Saves the World.
Long story short, XBLIGCollege Lacrosse: The Video Gameasked fans on Facebook to rate the game highly, in order to inflate its position. Now, Zeboyd’s title has mysteriously seen a slew of negative, position-dropping reviews out of the blue. It’s alleged that the two are related, although this is clearly the sign of a bad system. Microsoft is “investigating a possible misuse of ratings.”
Sad that it takes a story like this for action to be even potentially taken, but what else is new?
Microsoft Investigating Claims Of Ratings Manipulation In Xbox Live Indie Games[Gamasutra]
