Steam review bombs can be harmful, says Mecha Break dev, but it had a positive takeaway after Chinese players hammered the beta: 'We underestimated players' passion to get into our game'

Mecha Break hit some turbulence when its open beta period started earlier this year. The mecha battler's online beta dropped in late February and thousands of Chinese players couldn't access the game due to server issues. Their response was a Steam review bomb.

Hundreds of reviews trashed developer Amazing Seasun for not being more prepared for a global launch, bringing the review consensus on Steam to "mostly negative." Amazing Seasun CEO Kris Kwok says that, while the reviews made it difficult to sort through the constructive feedback, they took it as a sign that Chinese players were passionate about Mecha Break.

"This type of review bomb is quite common for Chinese audiences. We take that as a sign that there are a lot of people who are interested in our game," Kwok said from his office in Zhuhai, China in a recent interview with PC Gamer. "But those types of review still are harmful and can be repetitive without constructive feedback. They can obstruct other comments that are giving genuine feedback."

The majority of these targeted reviews didn't comment on the content of the game. They focused on the initial barrier to entry, which is how review bombs generally work whether they originate in China or anywhere else: They're about expressing displeasure with a developer over one issue, such as a technical problem or political stance, by hammering the game with as many brief negative reviews as possible.

"We really appreciated those comments, we underestimated players' passion to get into our game," Kwok added, saying that they've adjusted server capacity for their July launch. "They help us get the correct amount of servers ready for launch."

In other cases, a big batch of negative Steam reviews could have major repercussions for a game like Mecha Break. Steam users who are unfamiliar with the game could avoid trying it out—even if it is free-to-play—due to the overwhelming negative response. Traffic that gets funneled to the game from other places on Steam might also plummet, limiting how many players find the game naturally.

Luckily for Amazing Seasun, Steam implemented a large batch of new demo features over the course of 2024. One of the main ones separates the demo and open beta Steam pages from the main Mecha Break Steam page. Now that the open beta period is over, all those negative Steam reviews are gone. Someone coming to the Mecha Break Steam page for the first time would have no idea.

If Mecha Break's public beta had happened in 2023 or at any other point in the game's ten year development period then those negative reviews could follow the game for its entire lifespan. It's hard to say whether or not they would have prevented success, but a negative rating on Steam certainly can't help.

Amazing Seasun doesn't view the initial launch scores and impressions as that important to the overall games' success, no matter what happens at the beginning of July when Mecha Break releases. It's been in development for nearly a decade, meaning that Kwok and the studio have made a serious investment into the future of their mecha battler. They've got content planned for multiple seasons after the initial release date.

"Steam review score or rating in the first month of launch does not define a game," Kwok said. "If we look at common milestones in the industry, the game evolves alongside the players."

Kwok has previously said that he believes that online service games can remain online indefinitely, and he still believes that less than a month before his passion project will go live.

"Whenever we provide a game it needs to be a unique experience. It needs to be different from other games out there. We are focused on the experience of piloting a mech," Kwok said. "When we look at other games we definitely see some homogenous gameplay, but we need to make an experience that is unique to us."

The developers behind Mecha Break have been highly receptive to feedback, especially since they've been taking comments from closed betas within their own community for years. One of the main concerns players brought to their attention was the inability to jump into games immediately using any Break Striker. Amazing Seasun is changing that for launch by making all but one Break Striker available for free.

Amazing Seasun will hopefully have a better server situation when it launches Mecha Break next month—it's out on Steam on July 1—otherwise angry fans may end up using the same tactic of review bombs to voice their displeasure with the Chinese studio and publisher.