Chinese version:差評如潮？好評如潮？ Reflections on ChuApp’s Article: “Do Chinese Players on Steam Really Prefer Leaving Negative Reviews?“

A few days ago, I came across an article published by ChuApp titled “Do Chinese Players on Steam Really Prefer Leaving Negative Reviews?” This piece delves into the behavior of Simplified Chinese-speaking players on Steam and why they often appear highly critical of developers.

One segment of the article references Research on Social Quality in China: Theory, Measurement, and Policy, suggesting that Chinese-speaking communities—particularly those based in mainland China—are more inclined to leave negative reviews due to their relatively disadvantaged socioeconomic status. Within this context, expressing discontent through negative reviews is seen as a form of passive resistance, and, more importantly, as a direct and accessible way to communicate with developers.

That said, this shouldn’t be viewed as the sole explanation or justification for the trend. To understand it more fully, one must observe these communities up close—like studying an ant colony—by engaging directly with forums such as Baidu Tieba or NGA, where these dynamics play out more vividly.

Regional Patterns in Negative Review Rates

The article begins by referencing data from steamdata.ninja, along with insights from a video titled “Do Chinese Players Really Prefer Giving Negative Reviews?” on Bilibili (link). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to access the website myself and cannot confirm whether it’s still active.

However, based on the statistics presented in the video, a clear trend emerges: regardless of whether we’re looking at Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, or even the broader East Asian region, negative review rates consistently outpace positive ones.

In contrast, among Western language regions, Germany stands out for having one of the highest negative review rates within Europe, highlighting a sharp divergence in regional feedback patterns. This discrepancy could potentially warrant further academic or cultural study on how different communities express dissatisfaction in digital spaces.

Steamdata.ninja's praise rate statistics for each language

Steamdata.ninja's praise rate statistics for each language

Data Tools and Community Metrics

A developer from mainland China created a Chrome browser extension called “Steam Game CN vs. Global Positive Rating”, which allows users to compare positive review rates between Chinese-speaking players and players from other regions. The tool is particularly useful for spotting cases where fan communities might be artificially inflating review scores.

Data reference note: In general, when a game has a large enough player base from both Chinese-speaking and non-Chinese-speaking regions, the positive rating percentages should stay relatively close—within a ±5% range. A discrepancy greater than ±10% may indicate that the reviews deserve a closer look, particularly the most-liked negative ones.

Using a browser extension to visualize the review score gap between Chinese and non-Chinese users.

Using a browser extension to visualize the review score gap between Chinese and non-Chinese users.

As a recent example, let’s take Legend of Mortal (活俠傳), a PC indie game with a wuxia setting developed by a two-person team from Taiwan. During its demo phase, the game was widely praised for its unique storytelling. However, upon full release, it sparked a polarized response from both Simplified and Traditional Chinese-speaking communities.

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The game’s overall Chinese-language reviews include both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Based on available data:

This reveals a notable difference in perception: the positive rating discrepancy between Simplified Chinese and non-Chinese-speaking (or global) users reaches -16.7%. According to the plugin’s standard, such a wide gap signals the need for a deeper analysis of whether the negative reviews are substantiated.