Slay The Spire 2 is Getting Heavily Criticized
Despite launching with high expectations, Slay the Spire 2 had a rather turbulent start. The strong legacy of the first game in the roguelike genre seems to have increased the pressure on the sequel. While Mega Crit’s new title managed to achieve high player numbers on Steam, it faced a much harsher picture than expected due to successive waves of review bombing.
Slay The Spire 2 Crashes in Steam Reviews
Just two weeks after its release, Slay the Spire 2 faced its first major wave of backlash. Players began leaving negative reviews due to nerfs to some popular cards. Another update that came shortly after was similarly met with intense criticism for the second time.
The latest wave of negative reviews wasn’t directly related to gameplay. Some users reacted negatively to Anita Sarkeesian’s inclusion in the game’s credits, posting negative reviews on Steam. Interestingly, Sarkeesian’s name has been in the credits since the game’s release on March 5th. Therefore, the latest wave of negative reviews stemmed more from cultural controversies than from the game itself.
The numbers illustrate just how serious the situation has become. In its first nine weeks, Slay the Spire 2 received approximately 78,000 negative user reviews on Steam, pushing its store rating to “Mixed.” For comparison, the first Slay the Spire received only 5,672 negative reviews in about seven and a half years and still has an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating.
Despite this, Slay the Spire 2’s commercial performance appears strong. The game regularly reaches between 100,000 and 200,000 concurrent players and is estimated to have sold around 7 million copies. Receiving such harsh feedback during the early access phase can be exhausting for the developer, but given the quality of the first game, Mega Crit still has a very good chance of fixing the balance issues over time.
