Harmonix has had to apologize for its employees posting positive reviews about Rock Band 4 on Amazon.
If you missed the news, several employees from Harmonix posted positive user reviews about Rock Band 4 on Amazon. People noticed this and thought it was wrong and unethical.
Harmonix sent out an apology via Destrutoid: “Harmonix has clarified its internal policy about posting reviews of our own products on retail sites, and we’ve asked that existing reviews be edited to identify Harmonix employees or be removed entirely. While we believe the reviews posted by a few employees were sincere and without ill intentions, as a studio we don’t believe these are appropriate actions. We appreciate the feedback from the community, and take our relationship with our fans seriously.”
Some people assumed it could have been internet trolls or even Guitar Hero fans posting the reviews. However, it turns out it really was Harmonix employees after all.
This kind of practice is not taken too lightly. This is because it gives a bias opinion if you have worked on a project personally. It’s as if Zack Snyder “reviewed” Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and told people to go and see it. Sure, it could be a good movie, but it’s still a biased opinion because he’s the director.