EA claims to be unfazed by the criticism surrounding their latest addition to the Dungeon Keeper franchise, Dungeon Keeper Mobile, because it’s rated 4.5/5 on Google Play.
Dungeon Keeper Mobile has received a lot of flak since it came out, with the biggest complaint being that the “free-to-play” version of the game seems severely crippled and effectively requires the player to pay money in order to get anywhere. EA is constantly under fire for trying to make players fork out cash over expensive microtransactions, and this game is no different. While this sentiment is shared by many critics and players, Jeff Skalski of EA Mythic - the game’s senior producer - states that anybody upset with these options is playing the game wrong. Dungeon Keeper, Skalski says, “is meant to be played on the go multiple times a day with a few minutes here or there.”
“We’re also seeing a lot of game downloads and in-game engagement so that tells us there is a large group of people who are playing and enjoying the game. Obviously, this is counter to some of the angry reactions we’ve seen around the internet.”
Skalski claims that it’s only a vocal minority of the players who take issue with the game and its in-app purchases, explaining that “Our intention with the mobile version was to give as many people as possible a taste of that original Dungeon Keeper experience, and for some people, that’s not the way they want to re-visit the franchise.” and that the hardcore fans would always have a problem, no matter what they did with the franchise.
In defense of the game, Skalski cites the fact that Dungeon Keeper Mobile has been rated 4/5 and 4.5/5 on the App Store and Google Play, respectively.
“One of the important data points we’re looking at is our store ratings and downloads”, he says, adding that he and his team personally think that the game’s microtransactions are “fair”.
However, if you stop to try the Android version of game for yourself you’ll notice that instead of having an unbiased rating system, you’re begged with the promise “5 Star ratings from you help us provide free updates!”, and are asked to rate it as either “1-4 Stars” or “5 Stars”. While clicking 5 stars will direct you towards the Google Play page to rate it in all it’s glory, refusing to rate Dungeon Keeper Mobile as anything less than perfect instead directs you towards the EA’s feedback service.
It’s noteworthy that there’s nothing to stop you clicking 5 Stars and then rating the game honestly.
The original Dungeon Keeper game can be found at GOG for $5.99. Despite its age, it’s still worth a punt and comes highly recommended. The series was originally conceived and developed by Bullfrog.
Nic Bunce
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