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Marvels Rivals requires creators to sign a contract that removes your right to give a negative review in order to access the playtest
(files.catbox.moe)
On today's episode of "This shouldn't be legal"...
Source: https://twitter.com/A_Seagull/status/1789468582281400792
We aren't talking about something in production, like this app, we are talking about play testing a game in alpha. I would be upset if this was in a released game, or even like the beta test, but if it's still under serious development it seems incredibly reasonable to me.
A general NDA is reasonable, sure, but allowing only comments which glaze the game but not those which criticize it is not. I genuinely cannot even fathom how you think the contrary; I don't mean that in offensive, so if you can articulate why you believe that way I would like to try and understand.
I agree that it should just be an NDA to be the most fair. But keep in mind I'm responding to someone who is claiming this is beyond egregious and that there should be laws against this.
It's just not a big deal. It makes sense for them to say that you can't disparage the game, because it's in alpha, but why would they restrict good press? If you find this to be disagreeable, it's alpha and you can just wait for release.
While I find it disagreeable, I don't see anything to be outraged over, as avoiding it is as simple as not playing a game in alpha.
Unlike the mcdonald's example where it is actually a released product.
I can't help but think that if this sort of thing proliferates that it will essentially hamstring reviews. This particular agreement might be just because the game is in alpha, but it's part of a broader trend of ToS/EULA wishlists that are so restrictive that they're probably illegal already buy in order to test that you have to go to court against a huge, overpaid legal team which leads to people having their basic rights violated.
This is a slippery slope fallacy "if they are allowed to do something mild and legal now. . .well, it will just lead to terrible violation of our rights in the future!"
What undermines your point is that if they try to put these illegal restrictions on many people, violating their basic rights, then they are opening themselves up to large class action lawsuits.