Why is Asobo having the Steam reviews manipulated? Any ideas?
5 Likes
I can easily imagine an intern asking Copilot to reword the reviews each time.
But if this is really some kind of campaign or tactic from MS to improve the Steam rating then it’s a low point and shows that they are only interested in shoveling as much sales as possible instead of delivering a good product.
Of course, it may only be a coincidence.
4 Likes
is that your review?
Only Steam admins – not Microsoft or Asobo – can edit or delete Steam reviews. We are not modifying any user reviews.
17 Likes
Look at the picture. It has nothing to do with deleting reviews.
Sections of identical wording between multiple reviews means it was clearly written up by bots or copy/pasted from a template. It very much looks like astroturfing positive reviews.
7 Likes
Hello @PaulWarlocc,
Are you suggesting that a Steam account that owns 282 products and has previously written 17 other reviews is a bot account?
There is no conspiracy here whatsoever. Microsoft/Asobo are not manipulating Steam user reviews in any way.
Thanks,
MSFS Team
14 Likes
I can’t see this happening because if it were true, the massive public relations harm it would do to Microsoft and/or Asobo would be much worse than the benefit. After all, they can’t scan the internet and change ALL the negative reviews - if they wanted to do that, they’d start with their own forums.
2 Likes
I’m suggesting that it’s an awfully weird coincidence to see the exact same phrases being repeated in multiple positive reviews, and that usually that sort of thing means some kind of astroturfing.
And more importantly, that people might want to talk about it.
7 Likes
Despite the feedback, the first important indicator of Asobo’s performance will be the next patch. Which is due out this week.
3 Likes
Whoever is the most honest, we will never know. Only time and patches will show
1 Like
Let’s think about this logically for a moment. Why would Microsoft risk reputational damage and loss of credibility by writing duplicate fake/bot reviews? Don’t you think the MUCH more likely explanation is that the example screenshot you showed is just a regular Steam user who copy/pasted sections of another review rather than taking the time to write their own text?
Not everything is a conspiracy theory. There is absolutely no manipulation of Steam reviews on our part.
Thanks,
MSFS Team
22 Likes
Indeed. MS allows a ton of criticism (some constructive, some not) in these very forums - why would they go out of their way to try to write fake reviews to offset critical ones?
4 Likes
Your question implies that there is concrete proof of something, but there isn’t. It’s definitely weird, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve seen only the screenshot referenced on reddit which hardly constitutes proof of some conspiracy. It’s two reviews. Are there more? Is there a comprehensive list showing evidence or are we jumping to conclusions based on a screenshot of two reviews?
1 Like
Ah Reddit. Well it must be true.
14 Likes
This is 100% why I don’t buy it. Steam isn’t the only (or main) marketplace for this sim, anyway. They’ve done nothing to shut down rampant, at times foaming-at-the-mouth rage posts about FS2024 on this publicly accessible forum. This isn’t their MO.
4 Likes
With all that you’re having to manage right now, I am sorry this is on your plate, too.
10 Likes
Nothing to see here (on this occasion). 
This seems very fake.
These are positive reviews and constructive, why to consider them manipulated? when he talk about “we” he does not mean MS or Asobo, but “community”. he addresses severe issues, but also accuses Microsoft of forcing Asobo to produce product for profit and scarifying quality in the process.
it maybe hard to believe that minds can work very differently, but yea its a fact.
1 Like
It could be that the user (not MS) is writing that using AI to help assist him/her.
That doesn’t make them a bot, it just means they can’t spell. Or write. Maybe. 
2 Likes