This article was written and edited by myself and the lovely Flo Alcasas for the GCM Hub. <3

In a nutshell:

Long gone are the days when magazine critics had their say in which games were worth your time and money to play. Before making a purchase or download, players conveniently scroll through the thoughts and feelings of those who have gone before them. 

This obviously makes reviews an incredibly important aspect of the download and purchasing process, especially for premium titles.

Would you feel good about spending $20 on a game most players called underwhelming? Of course not. But for a game everyone says is the best they’ve ever played, it’s a price you’ll gladly pay.

In fact, review platforms are becoming increasingly resemblant of social media. More than leave simple ratings or reviews, people are using these platforms as avenues for self-expression and social connection.

For community managers, this means understanding, responding to, and steering reviews should be a key objective.

How important are reviews?

A recent look at the App Store revealed that neither the top 10 downloaded nor top 10 grossing games had received a review with less than 4 stars. 

Why is it so important to have a high ranking in app stores? Besides the obvious reasons, higher ranking games get more exposure. Google, for example, has confirmed that games with a better rating have a higher likelihood of being featured.

However, the importance of reviews goes far beyond being featured. Most notably, in non-mobile games.

On Steam, reviews may not have the same tangible benefits as they do on mobile but they are still important to you as a developer and community manager. Though the platform doesn't feature games based on their reviews, this player feedback can still help other users decide whether or not to download the game.

Reviews allow you to collect information on how your core user base thinks and feels about the game. This can help drive the changes and updates you as a developer need to make in order to meet your customers' and keep them satisfied.

Why do people review games?

In Darcy Smith’s podcast episode, the community manager for League of Geeks talks about why players come to the store to write reviews.

There must be a few good souls out there who simply pop in and write a review to say, “Hi there, your game is really great!” But as Darcy puts it, reviews are generally given in response to dramatic events—specifically, ones that have a personal significance.  

A dramatic event certainly doesn’t have to be a bad one. Maybe a player just got through an exceptionally challenging level and felt so good about it that they had to share their excitement. Or perhaps the game broke halfway through.

Maybe, after three hours of immersing themselves in the world your game created, a player found themselves so in love with the graphics and narrative and wanted to share that. 

It could even be as simple as an outrageously fun multiplayer match that validated a player’s money as well spent. 

Understanding and Encouraging Reviews 

Google Play and App Store Reviews

Both Google Play and the App Store allow developers to ask for reviews directly within their game. This is a function many use to get more game reviews and there is nothing inherently wrong with it. 

However, it is important to prompt reviews at the right time—for example, when a player has been using the game for some time or has just completed a level. 

If a player declines the prompt to give you a review, don't keep hitting them with it. Wait at least a few days. Make sure you're not spamming your players.

Here are a few guidelines on how to use review prompts on the App Store, and Google Play. 

Additionally, you'll want to avoid asking for reviews after negative events such as the game crashing. As much as possible, program prompts to appear after good things happen. 

Finally, make the process as seamless as possible. On iOS, use the review prompt API that allows players to submit their review without leaving the game at all. By capitalizing on this, you can encourage players to populate your app store page with more stars and feedback.

For more on why reviews matter, check out this article from App Radar.

Reviews on Steam

While mobile games can push review prompts at any time in a player’s gaming experience, this is strictly prohibited on Steam. Thus, it’s important to find a fair way to ask non-mobile players for reviews. 

Here are some interesting stats from the Queen's University study: Steam gamers play for a median of 13.5 hours before posting a review on the platform. Surprisingly, negative reviews are generally submitted after significantly less playing time than positive reviews. 

To encourage Steam reviews, you can ask players to write a review at the end of a fun Twitch stream, informative blog post, or general announcement. 

Build on the principle that when you offer players something of value, they’ll be more willing to give back.

Speaking of giving back, never offer players a reward in exchange for reviewing your game.

Incentives can and should play a big role in successful community management—as we heard on podcast episode nine with Ella. However, most platforms have policies against incentivizing reviews.

Steps to Take as a Community Manager

1. Find the Valuable Reviews

Reviews that say no more than “good game”, “bad game”, or simply veer off topic don’t offer anything of value.

According to this previously cited study of Steam reviews, “only 42% provide information deemed valuable to developers looking for feedback on how to improve the game.”

Though that may not seem like a large percentage, it is certainly significant. For a game with only a hundred or so reviews, that’s still dozens providing useful information. And remember, negative reviews can be helpful—and thus valuable—to you too.

From these reviews, it's important to find trends in player feedback that your development team can act on.  

2. Respond to Reviews

All platforms allow developers to reply directly to reviews—and that’s exactly what you should be doing.

How you react to reviews should be determined on a case-by-case basis but here are a few examples: