Ready or Not Now Has ‘Mostly Negative’ Reviews Ahead of Console Launch

Ready or Not‘s review scores have plunged into the “Mostly Negative” range on Steam, indicating players’ displeasure with the title’s console release censorship. Fans of the tactical first-person shooter have been voicing their opinions, and the reviews for Ready or Not on Steam have seen the brunt of it.

Ready or Not is gearing up for a console release on July 15, which would generally be something for players to celebrate. However, ahead of the update, Void Interactive explained that the game would be undergoing some changes in order to clear console certification standards. These changes include removing nudity, toning down the gore, and changing scenes, like one involving an NPC overdosing.

ready or not fans think void interactive broke an old promise by censoring the game.

Some Fans Think Ready or Not Dev Went Back on Its Word

A group of Ready or Not fans believe that VOID Interactive’s recent decision breaks a promise many had trusted the developer to uphold.

Ready or Not has been review bombed since these changes were announced, and it looks like players aren’t done expressing their anger just yet. On Steam, the game’s average recent review score has plummeted to “Mostly Negative,” with only 31% of the last 30 days’ 9,281 reviews considered “positive” at publication time. The majority of the negative reviews point not only to the censorship, but a sense of bait and switch, as players on PC have already purchased the game and come to expect it to deliver a certain experience. While the changes are being made in order to publish the game on console, the PC will be changed alongside it, which is what most fans are angry about.

Ready or Not Players Voice Feeling “Cheated”

A number of reviews on Steam and posts on social media indicate that players are largely angry because the experience they’ve come to enjoy is being changed after the fact. Players have accused the developers of greed. Void Interactive has attempted to smooth the situation over by sharing before and after visuals of Ready or Not and trying to clarify what it’s labeled as “misconceptions and misinformation.” However, it hasn’t stemmed the tide of negative reviews. For comparison’s sake, on June 30, the game’s recent reviews had fallen to “Mixed,” with 291 negative reviews on June 28, another 628 on June 29, and 686 on June 30. It’s since seen a surge, with 1,266 negative reviews left on July 2, and a further 2,066 on July 3.

At this point in time, if the developers want to salvage the game’s reputation among PC players and early adopters, there are essentially only two options. The game can either scrap the anticipated Ready or Not console release, which clearly isn’t going to happen, or it can limit the censorship to the console versions only. While this would still displease some who have decried censorship in general, those who have enjoyed the Ready or Not experience thus far would at least be able to keep the game in its original state, and gamers could choose between a censored console version or the original, intact version on PC. However, Void Interactive has shown no indication that it will budge on this decision thus far, so players will likely continue expressing their feelings on the matter via reviews and social media.