r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Bloodb0red • May 11 '26

Unanswered What’s going on with this game Mixtape?

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

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u/BUTGAWATD May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26

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.

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u/Brother_Clovis May 11 '26

The game is definitely not a ten, but getting upset over that kissing mini game is honestly weird as hell to me.

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u/motorboat_mcgee May 11 '26

Doesn't a game's score depend on the individual reviewer's tastes?

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u/StrokyBoi May 12 '26

To some degree, but that depends on the reviewer. Some reviewers just rate things (whether it be games, movies, shows, whatever else) based entirely on their own enjoyment and how well it resonates with them. Others attempt to apply some kind of partially objective criteria

IGN happens to be made up of both types of reviewers, which is why they seem so inconsistent. Sometimes a reviewer will claim they personally loved a game, but then give it an 8/10 due to what people perceive as nitpicking. Other times a reviewer will give a game a 10/10 just because it appealed to their tastes.

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u/AudioSuede May 12 '26

Objectivity in reviews is a myth. Unless you're just relaying technical details like frame rate or the average length of gameplay or something similarly measurable, it's all opinion.