Following its release back in 2017, Nier: Automata has become a fan favorite hit, which saw multiple versions of the game release as well as further collaborations with other IPs and franchises. The protagonist 2B was added to Bandai Namco's flagship fighting game, Soulcalibur 6 as DLC, Nier characters joined Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, and other related DLC could be found in games like Gravity Rush 2, Phantasy Star Online 2, and more.
The game's initial popularity on the PlayStation 4 and release on PC would also led to the title being added to Xbox and the Game Pass service where it opened the door to a whole new fanbase. Known as Become as Gods edition, Xbox and Windows PC players were able to experience the game in its most updated form with DLC and well as various improvements like HDR, 4K resolution, and additional bug fixes. However, players on Steam have started to voice their frustrations at the missing content.
Oddly enough, the Become as Gods update seemingly bypassed Steam completely and only impacting the Windows Store version of the game. For fans on Steam, this means their version of Nier: Automata is technically outdated and missing many of the fixes and improvements that Windows Store PC players are seeing. Without any official updates from Square Enix, fans have decided to take a different tactic to show their displeasure.
Over the past three days, Nier: Automata has received over 300 negative reviews as fans review bomb the game in an effort to get Square Enix's attention. The main gripe with the Game of the YoRHa edition on Steam is that players need to turn to third party mods like FAR in order to fix a many issues. These include smaller things like resolution and stuttering problems to more widespread issues like game crashing. The effort has brought the overall rating down a bit from Very Positive to Mostly Positive, but more poor reviews will need to come in before the game fully drops into negative territory.
While the Steam situation is unfortunate, Nier: Automata continues to pass major sales milestones, exceeding 5.5 million just after it's fourth anniversary. It's a big moment for a franchise which was simply a cult classic prior to Nier: Automata's release and has shown that the series has legs. In fact, the popularity spawned a mobile title known as Nier Reincarnation which is currently only available in Japan, but expected to release worldwide at some point. The sales success also helped greenlight Nier Replicant, a remastered version of the original 2010 title, Nier.
Nier: Automata is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Steam Community