For some users, Steam has been a service with questionable ethics from the beginning.
Being both a distributor and a publisher, Valve has the option to control prices and give favour to their games. Instead, they’ve proven over the years that they can run Steam ethically.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop others from offering good reviews for only $5. For PCGamesN, it all started with a mass message sent out to the users offering these ‘services’. Not trying to hide his identity at all, it users didn’t bother checking out who he was.
All they cared about was getting money in exchange for a positive review. The author of the article explicitly asked sellers if the review would be positive, and only one said that his would be honest. “If you’re looking for those kinds of fake reviews, there are plenty on Fiverr who provide such a service. However, I would suggest that you take great care because while in the short term such schemes may make your product look good, it usually ends up doing more harm in the long run.”
In addition to that, PCGamesN noted that he puts a disclaimer at the beginning of all of his Steam reviews.
The website that is offering these services if Fiverr. Or rather, users who signed up on Fiverr. The website offers oddjobs for different kinds of services. Of the Steam Review profiles he checked out, there are some that appear on two or more profiles. They are:
- AdvertCity
- Apocalypse Hotel
- Areeb World
- Blood of Magic
- Cat Simulator
- Centauri Sector
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- D3DGear
- Egyptian Senet
- Epic Character Generator
- Epic Showdown
- Garfield Kart
- Gods Vs Humans
- Home Design 3D
- Hospital Manager
- Moto Racer Collection
- Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
- Prehistorik
- Shiplord
- Super Hexagon
Although the author does note that games like Super Hexagon and Counter-Strike: Global Offense are unlikely to pay for reviews, seeing as how popular the games are. The full article can be read on PCGamerN, and it gives an interesting look into a very unethical situation.