Review bombing sees Facebook's VR ad test in need of a new game

News
By published

VR advertising is inevitable, but this does show developers are going to have to be careful.

Resolution Games has pulled Blaston from the proposed VR ad test
(Image credit: Resolution Games)

Less than a week after announcing it intended to start testing ads in VR, Facebook has hit a snag—the game developer it initially announced it was working with has withdrawn (via UploadVR). This comes after a sizable backlash from the community that saw the announced game, Blaston, inundated with negative reviews.

Virtual reality

(Image credit: Valve)

Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR

The review bombing isn't necessarily without merit, as Blaston is a paid-for game. At the time of purchase, gamers didn't know they were going to be treated to virtual advertisements, thus the uproar. Everyone expects ads in free to play games, less so in something you've already paid for.

The developer, Resolution Games, has been quick to backtrack on its decision to try out ads in Blaston, although it hasn't ruled out exploring the idea in the future with its fishing game, Bait!, which just so happens to be a free-to-play title. 

Virtual reality fishing doesn't sound like such a bad concept, although I'm not sure there are so many obvious opportunities for interactive advertisements on the riverbank. Otters with Gucci handbags and Barbour-wearing toads isn't that common an occurrence, although anything is possible in VR I suppose.

Let's face it, now that this particular advertising bottle has been opened, there's no putting the top back on—it's coming whether the review bombing continues or not. The question is, how invasive is this advertising going to be? The original concept for Blaston required the user to actually click on the ad to interact with it, which as Wes pointed out, isn't something that we're naturally inclined to do.

Alan Dexter
Alan Dexter

Alan has been writing about PC tech since before 3D graphics cards existed, and still vividly recalls having to fight with MS-DOS just to get games to load. He fondly remembers the killer combo of a Matrox Millenium and 3dfx Voodoo, and seeing Lara Croft in 3D for the first time. He's very glad hardware has advanced as much as it has though, and is particularly happy when putting the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD processors, and laptops through their paces. He has a long-lasting Magic: The Gathering obsession but limits this to MTG Arena these days.