Developer of Popular Van Life Simulation Game with 1.5 Million Wishlists Issues Apology for Requesting Removal of Negative Reviews
Outbound emerged as an unexpected hit during Steam’s February Next Fest, garnering a wave of positive feedback from players who tried its demo and amassing over 1.5 million wishlists on Valve’s platform. However, the full Early Access version has left some players feeling let down, especially after reports surfaced of the developers requesting users to alter their negative reviews on Steam.
Launched on May 11, Outbound is a co-op survival sim that swaps the harshness of a perilous wilderness for the vibrant and cozy fantasy of modern van life. Unfortunately, its Early Access debut has been rocky on Steam, with mixed reviews flooding in about the game’s short length and its survival mechanics being perceived as lacking depth. Some players were put off by the $25 price tag, while others simply felt indifferent.
This typical launch reception would have placed Outbound among countless other Steam titles, but the situation escalated when Square Glade Games took an unusual step. A screenshot shared on the Steam subreddit revealed that the studio responded to a negative review by offering a refund and asking the player to remove their critical feedback from the game’s page.
“Sorry to hear that Outbound is not your cup of tea,” the response stated. “But that is of course totally understandable. No hard feelings. Feel free to send a support request to Steam support to get a full refund on your purchase. If you do so, we would appreciate if you would update or remove your negative review. Thanks a lot.”
This request sparked backlash within the Steam community, leading to more negative reviews being posted in response to the developers’ actions. One player noted, “Negative reviews exist for a reason. It’s not a good look when developers ask players to change or remove criticism instead of addressing the actual issues being raised. Reviews help consumers decide what they’re spending their money on, and trying to silence criticism only damages trust. It’s also frustrating to see the developer mainly respond to negative reviews while largely ignoring the people leaving positive ones. If you want a strong community, show appreciation to everyone supporting the game, not just the people you want to convince to change their opinion.”
In light of the growing discontent, Square Glade Games has attempted to mend the situation by issuing an apology in the game’s discussion section. “First and foremost, we truly apologize for how our recent replies have come across,” the developers wrote. “We understand that our communication has felt wrong to many of you, and for that, we are genuinely sorry.”
They elaborated:
“To be completely honest, the 24 hours since the launch have been incredibly overwhelming. While we started with a lot of excitement, the reality of a launch brings a lot of pressure and intense emotions. Looking back, we realize that the way we communicated was not the right approach, and we didn’t handle the situation with the care it deserved.
We’ve been working around the clock to investigate the issues you’ve been reporting and to get fixes out as quickly as possible. Regarding the comments that we claimed an issue was fixed when it wasn’t: please know that we have been replying based on the best of our knowledge at that moment. In many cases, we believed a fix was fully deployed and functional, and it is never our intention to misinform our players.”
Square Glade Games has committed to no longer asking players to change their negative reviews and will instead focus on addressing the concerns raised. With over 40,000 players diving into Outbound within the first 24 hours of its release, the team is prioritizing multiplayer stability, UI enhancements, and bug fixes for the upcoming patch.
