[2] While a large number of negative reviews may simply be the result of a large number of customers independently criticizing something for poor quality, a review bomb may also be driven by a desire to draw attention to perceived political or cultural issues,[3] perhaps especially if the vendor seems unresponsive or inaccessible to direct feedback.
The practice is most commonly aimed at online media review aggregators, such as Steam, Metacritic, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, or app stores.
It may be motivated by unpopular changes to an established franchise, political or cultural controversies related to the product or service, or to the actions of its developers, vendors, or owners.
[2] According to Steam Spy, review bombing generally has little effect on a game's sales, and may in fact even increase them due to the resulting wave of publicity.
[14] Youtube has since removed the ability to review bomb a video through the simple method of rendering the "dislike" number unreadable, thus making the bombers' action effectively moot.
[21] Further, it would only accept reviews from persons that have been confirmed to have seen the movie, as verified through theater chains like Regal Cinemas, Cinemark, and AMC Theatres, or through online ticket sales though Fandango.
Ubisoft had made Unity free via its storefront UPlay, as the game included a recreation of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
[32] Unity, which was released in 2014, had received mixed reviews prior to this event due to bugs and technical problems with the game's launch.
The campaign was initiated by anime YouTuber Nux Taku in response to Funimation removing the series from its online streaming platform.
For example, AI: The Somnium Files was review bombed on Metacritic in February 2020 by a single person through the use of numerous sock puppet accounts.
The individual initially claimed that this was meant to highlight the flaws of Metacritic's user review system, but later admitted it was actually because they were upset with how a character in the game was written.
considered the game to have been reinvented for the better in a manner similar to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and No Man's Sky.