Review aggregate website Metacritic has implemented a new 36-hour delay on its user-written reviews starting with recent releases such as Ghosts Of Tsushima and Paper Mario: The Origami King.

This new delay policy appears to be a response to numerous instances of review bombing that have occurred on Metacritic for a variety of games across many platforms, which include Switch titles such as Astral Chain, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokemon Sword And Shield, and more. Oftentimes, many disgruntled players do not even wait to play the game before rushing to give it a 0 out of 10 on the platform.

Speaking to Gamespot, a spokesperson from Metacritic confirmed that it is to ensure gamers “have time to play” before reviewing, and was rolled out following input from industry experts:

“We recently implemented the 36 hour waiting period for all user reviews in our games section to ensure our gamers have time to play these games before writing their reviews. This new waiting period for user reviews has been rolled out across Metacritic’s Games section and was based on data-driven research and with the input of critics and industry experts.”

Now, Metacritic users who try to review a game before the delay has passed will be met with a message asking them to “please spend some time playing the game”. Whether or not this strategy will have any effect on review bombing practices remains to be seen.

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