No Rest for the Wicked's Moon Studios CEO calls for positive reviews
Moon Studios' CEO has worried fans about the stability of the now independent studio after asking players to leave positive reviews for No Rest for the Wicked.
When you look at a game’s Steam page, how often does the review score influence your thoughts on buying the game? When I see a Steam game fall into the Mixed or Mostly Positive levels, it gives me pause. For independent studios that will live and die by how well their game sells, this is a major problem. Over the weekend, the CEO of Moon Studios (No Rest for the Wicked.
Ori and No Rest for the Wicked developers, Moon Studios, might be in trouble
Moon Studios broke onto the video game scene with the impressive success of Ori and the Blind Forest. This atmospheric and emotional 2D platformer received praise from fans and critics alike and ultimately resulted in a successful sequel as well. Many gamers love the Ori series. It stars one of the most iconic and adorable characters in recent video game history, and while the games certainly have their dark moments, it’s an overall very approachable game. This is partly why it was surprising and exciting when Moon Studios announced their next game would go in a completely different direction.
No Rest for the Wicked is a top-down action RPG that is often considered “souls-like” because of its challenging and punishing combat. This game stars humans in a dark fantasy setting full of violence, gore, and destruction. Overall, this is a very different approach from the type of games the studio was known for. That’s why it’s not surprising for casual fans to look at this game and not realize it has anything to do with Moon Studios.
After No Rest for the Wicked launched in Early Access on Steam last Spring, it has certainly found an audience, but it did not make the same splash as the Ori series. Apparently, this is having a huge impact on the future survivability of Moon Studios. Spotted in the studio’s Discord server by a on the NeoGAF forums, and reported by VGC, Moon Studios' CEO shared these worries with fans of No Rest for the Wicked, encouraging them to leave positive reviews on Steam. “Folks, if you’re writing here and are enjoying Wicked and are excited for future updates, but haven’t left a positive review, it’s entirely possible that we won’t be around in a couple of months to do anything anymore…”
Moon Studios and No Rest for the Wicked have had a turbulent year. At the time of its Early Access launch, Moon Studios was partnered with Private Division to handle publishing. But last November, Private Division was sold by its parent company, Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two apparently held onto the publishing rights for No Rest for the Wicked, but Moon Studios announced in March of this year that they had acquired the publishing rights and were going fully independent. It has been roughly two months, and now Moon Studios’ CEO is already worrying fans about the studio's fate, adding in his statement on Discord: “I wouldn’t ask if our business wouldn’t be dependent on it… it’s detrimental that we get that review score back up.”
Looking through the recent reviews on Steam, it did not take long to find someone who left a negative review, pointing out that the CEO was begging people for positive reviews. Overall, No Rest for the Wicked is sitting comfortably at Mostly Positive, with a 74% positive score, whether you look at recent or all-time.
While I don’t think it was a great move to put that kind of pressure on fans to leave a review, I am at least happy that the conversation is out there about how important these small things are for independent teams. Adding a game to your wishlist or leaving a positive review might seem trivial, but it can make a huge difference. Wishlists and review scores are helpful, finite data points that independent studios can point to when trying to find a publishing deal to finish making their game. Plus, great reviews are one of the easiest ways to convince people to buy a game once it's out. It’s not part of the marketing budget; it’s a natural, organic way for a good game to show everyone it’s a good game.
I hope for the best for Moon Studios. Will they be shut down in a few months if their review scores on Steam don’t improve from 74% to 80%? I don’t know. All I can think about is how I would hate to see the studio that made Ori no longer exist. I am not particularly interested in No Rest for the Wicked; it’s just not the game for me, but I hope this studio can continue making games. Rather than asking for positive reviews, a game should be so great that it encourages players to leave a review, if anything, just to let others know what they are missing.
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