review bomb defense
/rɪˈvjuː bɒm dɪˈfɛns/
CommonOrganized positive reviewing or counter-messaging to offset a coordinated negative review campaign.
The ethics are debated. Some see it as restoring fairness when reviews are manipulated. Others argue counter-bombing is still manipulation regardless of intent. Valve and other platforms sometimes intervene by marking reviews as 'off-topic' during these events.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | game got review bombed for adding pronouns. community started a review bomb defense and now its at mostly positive | Political bombing was countered by supportive players leaving positive reviews. | reddit, 2024 |
| 02 | not sure review bomb defense is the right move. now both sides are manipulating the score | Questioning whether counter-reviewing solves or worsens the problem. | reddit, 2023 |
| 03 | steam marked all the off-topic reviews which is basically the best review bomb defense. no counter bomb needed | Platform intervention was more effective than community counter-reviewing. | x, 2024 |
| 04 | dev here. we were review bombed yesterday. review bomb defense is live, score is recovering | Developer announcing they are aware of the bombing and that positive reviews are helping. | x, 2024 |
Use it when
- A game is being review bombed and supporters are countering it.
- Discussing whether counter-reviewing is a legitimate response.
- A developer publicly addresses a coordinated negative review wave.
Do not use it when
- The negative reviews reflect genuine widespread problems with the game.
Origin and context
Emerged as a response pattern to review bombing, itself a practice that grew prominent on Steam and Metacritic. High-profile review bomb events in the mid-2010s prompted both platform countermeasures and community counter-campaigns.
- First seen
- mid-2010s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/review-bomb-defenseUpdated: 2026-08-29License: CC BY 4.0