How EA filters bad reviews for its games on Google Play

Two-time “Worst Company In America” winner Electronic Arts isn’t doing its publicity department any favors. The company’s new freemium game Dungeon Keeper tricks frustrated players into leaving bad reviews on its own site, instead of on the Google Play Store. Gaming mobile app reviews isn’t exactly an uncommon practice, but given Dungeon Keeper’s cult following and EA’s allegedly greedy reboot of the game in freemium form, gamers are particularly ruffled by the scheme.

The Android version of EA’s Dungeon Keeper does its best to prevent users from providing negative feedback. It’s typical for an app to ask the player to submit a review after it’s been played for a few hours. A prompt appears, pointing to the app store, where the player can select 1 through 5 stars and leave a blurb of text. In Dungeon Keeper, if the player selects the “1 – 4 Stars” option, they’re directed to a private feedback submission page. Only if the player selects the “5 Stars” option will they be taken to the Google Play page, where they can leave any rating they wish along with a blurb. The system is designed to make good feedback public and visible, and to allow EA to keep negative feeback hidden so it can be dealt with privately, or ignored entirely.