Silent Hill: Ascension Disables Chat, Criticized for Monetization and Poor Launch Experience
Silent Hill: Ascension, a live interaction series aimed at continuing the Silent Hill franchise, faces criticism for its damaging monetization approach and chaotic community chat, which has since been disabled due to inappropriate content.
- Silent Hill: Ascension, an interactive live series, had a catastrophic debut with a plethora of issues including a dysfunctional UI and worthless 'battle pass' costing $20 that caused fans to criticize the game's monetization tactics.
- Following its premiere, Ascension's chat had to be disabled due to inappropriate content, with users posting explicit comments related to game director Hideo Kojima and sexually suggestive messages about characters from the Silent Hill franchise.
- The chat feature will be limited to stickers until a more effective moderation system is put in place, with a goal to re-establish the chat overlay in the forthcoming months.
- The developers, Genvid, defended their monetization approach, admitting their lack of deep experience in the field, and stated they are still learning and working to improve.
- Apart from the explicit chat issues, the game's influence-based voting system, critical to its storyline progression, was also skewed by monetization, allowing those with more money to overrule others, leading to further criticism.
Kotaku 
PC Gamer 
