Square Glade Games' Cozy Release 'Outbound' Swamped with Drama After Review Scandal

When you look to buy a game, it can be difficult to determine whether you'll like it or not before you've actually gotten into the game. There are a few things you can rely on to steer you right: gameplay trailers, demos, and of course, reviews.

Well-written reviews can often give gamers insight into issues that they might not encounter during a demo, which might affect the way they enjoy a game or not.

But Square Glade Games was recently caught up in drama over reviews for their cozy RV-based game, Outbound. Here's what happened and why gamers were so miffed at the developer over a simple request.

Outbound is a "cozy game" (i.e., a game built for feel-good vibes and not the challenge) made for people who just want to relax and enjoy an adventure game.

Reviews of the game have been mixed, but it's how the production company, Square Glade Games, responded to negative reviews that has caused the most drama.

According to screenshots circulating on social media, it all went sideways when some reviewer suggested that the game wasn't worth the asking price.

Someone representing the Square Glade responded to the reviews, saying they were sorry the game was not their "cup of tea." They went on to write, "Feel free to send a support request to Steam support to get a full refund on your purchase. If you do so, we would appreciate if you would update or remove your negative review."

They were immediately slammed with backlash for trying to influence reviews. Someone representing the developer quickly deleted their original comment, and responded with a much more measured, Wow that's shady. This isn't a "mistake" or "oversight". ShamelessThey simply added, "no hard feelings."

Players, however, weren't impressed. Either with the original comment or the attempt to water it down and backtrack. Some people on social media called it "too little too late."

Others called it "a desperate attempt at PR." One person even wrote, "Wow that's shady. This isn't a 'mistake' or 'oversight'. Shameless."

However, some people gave the developers prop. On Reddit, one person wrote, "Its good that they are editing the comment, they learnt from their mistake. Good for them."

Another person agreed, writing, "Exactly. As long as them editing their comment was for the right reasons, then good on them for learning and moving forward.

And as a backer for the Kickstarter who's been a part of it from pretty early on, they've never given me a reason to believe that something like this would be for nefarious reasons."

However, the furor seemed to die down pretty quickly, and players got back to what Outbound does best: cozy gaming. Love it or hate it, worth the money or not, Outbound is now a solid cozy game players can turn to when they want something light and playful to escape into.