It’s the worst game on Switch.
Popeye on the Switch is a big pile of garbage. Popeye is a low effort Unity title released by publisher Sabec that looks like an asset flip. Now the folks behind Popeye are evidently deficient in vitamin bad press, because they’ve decided to go ahead and threaten to sue a YouTuber over a negative review. I can’t imagine that going poorly.
The review was posted by YouTuber John Riggs, who reviewed the game with admittedly somewhat hyperbolic comments like “do not buy” and calling the game the worst title on the Switch. None of those things are slanderous, by the way. Sabec meanwhile is a publisher of absolute shovelware garbage like Calculator and Roulette. Cheap games that appear to be mostly made out of pre-bought (and in some cases free) Unity store assets and hastily crammed onto console stores.
In a video posted following up on the review, Riggs revealed that someone from the developer reached out threatening to get the company’s legal department involved if the comments weren’t taken down. And he acquiesced, which given it’s his YouTube channel that’s his prerogative. Riggs has since changed the title and thumbnail to be less hyperbolic, but the threat is starting to make the rounds on YouTube channels and the already negative view that the company has received over releasing the game is only bound to get worse.
Threatening critics over their video game reviews never goes well for developers. In some cases it has bankrupted smaller teams through the ensuing fallout. And if the folks at Sabec know what’s good for them they’ll chalk this up as a case of misjudgment, apologize, and never do it again. But that’s only if they know what’s good for them.
Don’t buy Popeye, if anything because the people behind it are disgusting bullies. Otherwise I have no opinion on the matter.
For a better review on Popeye, I’ll point toward one Jim Stephanie Sterling. Language warning.
MMO Fallout 