![]() “Topware does not engage in any manipulation of media sites or customer sites, but we are happy that people like our game.” We asked people to hold off on reviewing the product until we launched the English version, if they felt pressured then I will issue an apology to them. “We asked people to wait for the UK/US version to be sent out, but many people imported the German version which made multi-player almost impossible as it was in German completely. ![]() “We had issues with a multi-platform launch that shipped at different dates to different regions that were not polished for English reviews as the VO was not complete,” he said. He did not explain how only select sites were asked to remove their reviews, while more favorable reviews were allowed to remain published. Zuxxez Entertainment, our parent company, does.”Īs far as the GameReactor business goes, James explained to me that it was far more benign than the accusation presented to him. On top of that Topware does not handle PR in Europe. “We do not even have the budget for ad buys that people would even take that seriously. “There is absolutely no correlation between review scores and ad buys,” said Seaman. James Seaman, Managing Director at Topware, categorically denies the allegations or any wrongdoing, either in this country or Europe. Southpeak has never approached me about review scores, and never threatened to blacklist me, or anything of the sort. Where Destructoid is concerned, I personally received no bribes from Topware, but then, my main point of contact was Southpeak, a company that worked with Topware on Two Worlds II‘s promotion. The fact it comes from multiple areas of the industry, and the fact that I can speak to nearly any of my industry peers about Topware and have them suck in air through their teeth and be totally unsurprised by anything the company is accused of, seems to say a lot. If this were just coming from one random source, I’d be a lot more hesitant to run this. The other half was allegedly planned to be paid in exchange for an 8.5/10 review from us.Īs you can see, that is a considerable laundry list of trespasses. Topware paid for a Two Worlds II site skin, but withheld half the pay. Destructoid itself was planned to be approached with a bribe.A reviewer was accused of pirating a copy of Two Worlds II for his negative review, despite having been sent code. Threats of legal action against one reviewer were made without the permission of management, and rest entirely on the head of the PR department.Topware employees have been writing Amazon reviews, posting YouTube comments, and posing elsewhere as members of the public to generate positive feedback on its own products.The rub is that more favorable reviews released at the same time as GameReactor’s were not asked to remove their reviews, despite being based on the same code. GameReactor was pressured to take down its Two Worlds II review because it used preview code to write it.Topware was caught by IGN attempting to influence the rating score of IGN’s GameStats and inflating Two Worlds II‘s ranking.European reviewers have accepted ad buys from Topware in exchange for favorable reviews. ![]() ![]() The following is a rundown of the various stories we have uncovered over the past few days do bear in mind that these are allegations. The allegations against Topware are numerous, so it would be best to simply list them. With that in mind, I’ve chosen to respect their request for continued anonymity, as much as I’d have loved for them to step forward. Several of them preferred to remain anonymous some of them I know personally. Last night, however, we uncovered a list of allegations that would make even Eidos look like Jesus Christ.ĭestructoid spoke to people within the industry, within Topware itself, and within the videogame press. ![]() This isn’t the first time I’ve personally heard Topware’s name in association with shady behavior. Topware has responded to, and denied, many of the accusations thrown its way, but there has been an increasing amount of these accusations from all corners of the business. If true, this paints a very grim picture of the company in an industry that already comes under fire for questionable PR practices. A number of anonymous sources have accused the publisher of attempting to influence review scores by threatening to blacklist any outlet that gives Two Worlds II less than a 7/10. To say Topware has been suffering from bad PR lately is to put it lightly. ![]()
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