Today, during the Montreal International Game Summit, Double Fine Productions COO Justin Bailey attempted to make the argument that the review aggregator site Metacritic doesn’t really matter much when it comes to game sales.
In his presentation, Bailey explained that Double Fine’s own games, which include Psychonauts and Brütal Legend, sold the best when they were promoted by Let’s Play video, Steam free weekends, and collaborations with other indie developers. He noted that sites like Metacritic did not seem to influence sales at all.
There’s no need to obsess over Metacritic. We’ve basically seen Metacritic all but become obsolete right now… We get obsessed with it. Other developers get obsessed with it. The press gets obsessed with it. But it doesn’t really matter, as far as the sales of the game.
For those of you that read reviews on Metacritic, do you think the site influences your decision to buy games at all? Or do you agree with Bailey in that the site really doesn’t sway your opinion much?
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
