GTA 6 publisher Take-Two worried about the impact of review-bombing

Take-Two, the owner of Rockstar Games and the publisher of the highly anticipated GTA 6, seems to be concerned about the effects of "review-bombing." Gamers often take to the Internet to express their opinions about video games they love, and even the ones they don't like. A high volume of unfavorable reviews from players in a short span of time can cause a game's sales to suffer.

There have been many cases of video games being review-bombed recently, including Take-Two's very own Kerbal Space Program 2. Now, in a recent SEC filing, Take-Two Interactive acknowledged the effectiveness of review-bombing and discussed how it affects a company's business.

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GTA 6 publisher says review-bombing hurts profits

Take-Two officially recognized review-bombing as a business risk in its most recent 10-K filing, an annual report that outlines the company's operations during the preceding fiscal year. As reported by Stephen Totilo, a significant section of the GTA 6 publisher's 2024 10-K filing with the SEC emphasizes the need to secure and preserve strong game ratings on third-party platforms.

They stressed that high ratings enhance the discoverability of products across these stores:

"Furthermore, obtaining and maintaining high ratings of our games on the third-party platforms on which we operate are important as they help drive players to find our games. If the ratings of any of our games decline or if we receive significant negative reviews that result in a decrease in our ratings, our games could be more difficult for players to find or recommend."

Take-Two further added:

"In addition, we may be subject to negative review campaigns or defamation campaigns intended to harm our ratings. Any such decline may lead to loss of players and revenues, additional advertising and marketing costs, and reputation harm."

This could indicate that the company is worried about GTA 6 being a victim of review-bombing, especially since there has been speculation about the game going "woke" and being involved with Sweet Baby Inc. However, it should be noted that most games under Take-Two's wings have been review-bombed for decisions made by the publisher itself and not mainly due to the games themselves.

For instance, Grand Theft Auto 5 has been review-bombed in the past after Take-Two issued a DMCA notice to the developers of OpenIV (a popular modding tool), along with several other modders. Kerbal Space Program 2 began to be review-bombed after Take-Two shut down the developing studio, Intercept Games, as fans believed the game might not be receiving any more support.

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