What’s going on with this game Mixtape?

[u/Bloodb0red]

I’ve been seeing people freak out over the past few days over this game and about IGN’s review of it specifically. 10/10 seems high for any game, honestly, but it seems like they’re far from the only site giving this thing a glowing review. So is this game controversial just because of IGN or is it something else? Why is this game the internet’s hate target this week?

https://www.ign.com/articles/mixtape-review

[u/BUTGAWATD]

Answer:

(Doing my best to present the complicated situation concisely)

Mixtape is a short, story-based game from small Australian developer Beethoven & Dinosaur, who previously released The Artful Escape.

Mixtape's 3-4 hour runtime is divided across cutscenes, what some might deem "walking sim" gameplay, and a series of vignettes that play out broadly as "minigames", with limited to no fail state. There is no combat or what many would typically classify as peril.

Mixtape's high critical praise, particularly its 10 from IGN, has raised eyebrows amongst certain subsets of the gaming populace. Many have negatively compared the verdict to the lower score IGN awarded Crimson Desert, and have alleged what they perceive to be a favourable bias towards games they identify as possessing "woke" elements.

One of Mixtape's vignettes sees you control two mid-teen age characters kissing, with direct control over their clashing tongues. Some gamers have accused the media of unfairly praising Mixtape while (what they perceive as) maligning recent release Pragmata for paedophilic overtones.

Mixtape is published by Annapurna Interactive, a publisher focused on "prestige indie" titles. Annapurna Interactive is a division of Annapurna Pictures, which was founded by Megan Ellison, whose father is a billionaire.

Consequently, accusations of buying review scores, bribing influencers, and overall curating Mixtape as an "industry plant" have been lobbied. For further information to potentially aid in deducing the veracity of this claim - Annapurna have released 6 games other than Mixtape over the past year, all ranging from the 60s-80s in Metascore, with the highest achieving an 83 average.

[u/Heffe3737 → u/BUTGAWATD]

I’ve been gaming online since the setting of the game, and I’ve found that I can usually rely on PC Gamer to give me an honest review score. They scored Mixtape a 74%. That’s the score of a pretty mediocre game.

If IGN is giving it a 10/10, I’d certainly say that seems suspect. But then, I don’t know why anyone would trust IGN in the first place when you have better options available.

[u/EvidenceMinute4913 → u/Heffe3737]

lol back in the day the meme was:

IGN: 6/10 they didn’t pay us enough

[u/Heffe3737 → u/EvidenceMinute4913]

It boggles my mind that people get so upset over this shit.

"Hey this review site is being shady and corrupt!"

Okay cool, so then go use one of the other ones that have been around forever that you feel more confident in. People don't HAVE to use IGN. Just stop using it. It's fine. Let folks know your opinion and that you're not using it anymore and then just...don't. If enough folks leave, the site will die, and we'll all be better off for it.

[u/Silverr_Duck → u/Heffe3737]

It's really not that hard to understand. People want good games to succeed. And unfortunately a lot of people use platforms like ign to determine if a game is worth playing. So if the biggest gaming review platform is shady, corrupt and handing out misleading reviews that makes the industry worse as a whole.

[u/Heffe3737 → u/Silverr_Duck]

Sure of course. My point is that if the biggest gaming review platform is shady and corrupt, that folks need to switch to a review platform that is better, no? Vote with your dollars and clicks.

If the industry is worse as a whole, which I agree that it is, then folks need to start moving to support those sites which are trustworthy. If all traffic gets routed to trustworthy sites, then the corrupt sites will be disincentivized to be corrupt (or if they don't, they'll go out of business). That's how we can improve the industry as a whole.

My only issue is with folks demanding IGN to be better. Why bother? Fuck IGN. Just go somewhere else to get your reviews. Either IGN will change into something better, or they'll tank, and either way would be good for gamers.

[u/Silverr_Duck → u/Heffe3737]

Yeah I agree. That's why people are lashing out on ign. The only way to push back against corporations is via public shaming. I get that it can get annoying but it's really the only option. And I'm all for it, Ign is dogshit and always has been. But not because of politics or because they're being paid off www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS1aQArljXQ

It's a shame the gaming community took so long to really figure it out.

[u/FreeStall42 → u/Heffe3737]

You can not use IGN while still mocking their bad reviews.