Comments on: Steam’s new language-specific review scores highlight Japanese players’ tendency to leave only negative reviews. Gamers fear this might affect Japanese language support for future releases

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:34:24 +0000

Very obviously a cultural issue, as explained by the article.

If you’ve ever looked at Google reviews of restaurants in Japan, this is very obvious. The Japanese language reviews will put 3 stars for a restaurant, even if their comments themselves are generally rather praiseful.

Also see Gurunavi, the Japanese equivalent for Yelp, where the vast majority of restaurants hover at 3 stars.

By: Monzdrei

Monzdrei — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 07:36:50 +0000

Apparently Japanese people only knows how to complain and rarely do compliment. For them, perfection is a must and like a common sense, so they only focus on what’s missing and what’s bad.

By: Teur Shens

Teur Shens — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:34:18 +0000

Lot of group think influencing their reviews making them unreliable, if they can’t say what they like then don’t include them. Will just middle the final results.

By: Unknow0059

Unknow0059 — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 21:22:52 +0000

I feel this additionally exposes a greater issue with the incentives built into Steam’s rating system.
If you look at positive reviews, they are usually non-descriptive and non-specific about what they’re positive about, but the opposite is true of negative reviews.
The textual quality of both reviews, in terms of writing, engagement, and specificity, is not the same.
This is to say that, quantitatively, negative reviews “appear” bad, but qualitatively, they represent thoughtful and caring players.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 13:53:22 +0000

The three-star thing is a cultural quirk. Three should be considered average, but in practice, anything below five stars in the West is treated as a problem, with three or lower seen as outright bad.

This is especially true on sites like Amazon or eBay, where listings below four or five stars are often penalized.

Steam doesn’t even offer that level of nuance, which I think leads to more “Not Recommended” reviews from people who might already be hesitant to give five-star ratings.

By: Bazi

Bazi — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 09:57:21 +0000

I wonder how many fake reviews are there in Japanese language. The biggest problem of steam reviews are the fake accounts with fake stats – it is known there are blackmailers which are trying to get money from small developers in this way. So steam must solve this problem first, then the reviews can be valued.

By: Cabal

Cabal — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 02:52:26 +0000

In theory 2.5 is average in the entire world, but in practice it doesn’t play out like that (at least in USA). If you look at reviews on restaurants in america you will have almost exclusively fast food places at 3 stars, and others at 4-5 stars. It would hurt most businesses to give below 5 stars. On the other hand if you go to a non touristy part of Japan and look it is almost all 3 stars because that is the norm there.

By: Dembai

Dembai — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 01:13:50 +0000

What is annoying is that this is absolutely cultural. No one gives 5/5 stars in Japan. 3 is considered exceptional. 2 is good. 1 is not good.

The reasoning is straightforward. “Good for me” is not at all the same thing as “good for everyone”. So when you ask gamers “should everyone play this?” Or “would you tell your friends you like this?”

Most of the world has a culture where when you talk about something you like, its understood that your enjoyment of it is personal, and your recommendation is likewise, personal to the person you are talking to.

It isn’t done that way, even LINGUISTICLY, in Japan. If you have an opinion on something, it takes into account the rest of society, so you rarely make generalized recommendations.

Basically suggesting to a person talking about pets: “Cats are cute” in most of the world is met with “yeah, they are.” In Japan, the response is “Cats aren’t for everyone”. Does that mean they hate them? No. Does that mean they reject the idea of getting a cat for themselves? NO.

Japan is collectivist. What gets said as a recommendation is infringing on EVERYONE in their whole society!

So to say “I recommend my favorite game to my friends” is to first, think so much of yourself that you would dare assume their likes, and second, pit your game against something they may enjoy more. A recommendation is a commitment you may have to defend.

So for that reason, even a beloved game may be too much for the average Japanese gamer to recommend. Because “how can I say it’s for everyone?”

By: Monid

Monid — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:56:36 +0000

@sarah Generally, Steam users can’t see how many stars a review gives. You can only see Positive or Negative.
Also 3/5 might sound good in general, but when you look at gaming history, those 60% scores are reserved for disappointments and truly mediocre games. Games people rarely call good. You said 2.5 is the midway point – look no further than the infamous Sonic 06. Yeah, some kids who grew up with it might say it wasn’t so bad today, but back then it was called the worst game ever, and destroyed the series reputation. Whether the series had more games with 3/5 stars or not didn’t matter. To the people, Sonic didn’t have a good game since the 90s. No, thus wasn’t a case of Sonic fans being Sonic fans. This was a AAA game franchise getting their status revoked and shunned from mainstream.

By: Mateon1

Mateon1 — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 23:21:54 +0000

3 is in fact the exact middle for a 1-5 review system. 2.5 is the middle for a 0-5 system, but those are much rarer.
I generally prefer 0-10 or percentage based systems, feels like those are clearer.

By: sarah

sarah — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 20:49:05 +0000

I’m confused, where in the world is 3/5 stars /not/ considered average-good? 2.5 is the mid way point after all…