Slay the Spire 2 Steam Rating Drops to Mixed After Chinese Review Bomb

Chinese players of Slay the Spire 2 launched a coordinated review-bombing campaign on Steam that pushed the game's user rating to "Mixed" ^[1].

The campaign highlights a growing tension between developer design choices and the expectations of high-level competitive communities. When a core player base perceives a game as unbalanced or exploitative, they may use platform ratings to force a developer's attention.

The wave of negative reviews followed a major update released in April 2024 ^[2]. This second wave of review-bombing occurred within the last 30 days ^[3]. While some reports focus generally on the update, other sources specify that the anger is centered on the Doormaker character and the implementation of "save-loading" run strategies ^[4].

Chinese community members, including top-ranked players, argue that these specific changes are unbalanced ^[4]. The use of save-loading—a practice where players reload a previous save to avoid a loss—is viewed by this group as a form of "scumming" that undermines the integrity of the game's challenge ^[4].

Steam is a global platform, but the majority of the negative reviews in this instance originated from users in China ^[5]. The rating had previously been categorized as "Very Positive" before the recent influx of critical feedback ^[1].

Developers have not yet issued a formal response to the specific complaints regarding the Doormaker character. However, the coordinated nature of the effort suggests a highly organized effort to signal dissatisfaction with the current state of the game's mechanics ^[5].