Unknown number of Steam games appear to have been reviewed by review bots

Sergey Galyonkin, the man behind SteamSpy.com, noted on Friday that an unknown number of games on the platform had been reviewed by users who strongly gave the impression of being a bot. For example, these appear to have automatically generated names and exhibit very similar behavior.

In a tweet via the SteamSpy-Twitter account, Galyonkin points to the fact that bots apparently succeeded in getting bots to post Steam reviews. However, he does not mention how many games are involved. In a subsequently created Reddit thread, users find more indications that it does indeed appear to be bots. For example, all reviewers are part of the same Steam group and they were all last online at the same time.

The groups in question are now closed. All games rated by the potential bots exceed 500 reviews, classifying them as “overwhelmingly positive” on Steam, according to a Reddit user. Also, all suspicious accounts would have a Steamworks Developer Badge. It is possible to place a Steam review by having started a game via the platform, for example by having a key or by having played it for free.

Valve announced the review feature in 2013, and in May the company made some changes, including the ability to see only the most recent reviews.

SteamSpy is a website that, among other things, provides sales figures of varying accuracy of Steam games based on information from public Steam accounts, among other things. In the absence of official sales figures from developers or publishers, SteamSpy is regularly used by users and journalists.