As Lost Ark's rating drops from 'overwhelmingly positive' to 'mixed', there are lessons to be learnt for Amazon Games

There can be no words to measure just how big Lost Ark's release has been, but its huge launch may have inadvertently caused problems for it.

The game was originally launched in South Korea in 2019 and then expanded to Japan and Russia. Based on the success in those regions, Amazon Games brought the game to western audiences.

Barring the SEA, Middle East and Africa, the game has been released in all major regions. The western launch has been no less successful, recording over 1 million concurrent players on Steam.

But the game's massive popularity may now have become a curse in disguise as far as Steam reviews are concerned. Lost Ark has gone from "overwhelmingly positive" to "mixed," with the biggest problem being evident in less than two days.

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Long queue times are becoming a hindrance for Lost Ark players

Like every MMO game, Lost Ark is an online-only game with both PVP and PVE elements. Understandably, every player must be connected to the server at all times.

Amazon has divided the game into different regions to manage the crowding issue, with each region having its own set of servers. Sadly, the work done so far has not been enough.

Many complaints are about the same thing - incredibly long queue times. This has enraged several players who have review-bombed the game with negative votes to voice their displeasure.

Incidentally, Founder's Pack players have had to suffer the brunt of the issue. Founder's Pack owners could start the game earlier, but the number of servers back then was less than today.

As a result, the Founder’s Pack owners are all stuck in overcrowded servers where the login problem has been severe. On the other hand, newer players have been able to choose servers that are vacant and have been able to play without waiting.

There are other points of criticism about the overall gameplay, some of which are fair and some of which aren't. But given the main reason being the long wait times, a question arises - is it ok to review a game when players can't even play it?

In a certain sense, the situation Amazon Games finds itself in is unfortunate. There was hype for Lost Ark, but nobody had foreseen its reception. This has been the main reason for all the problems, because if there were lesser players, the server issues could have been avoided.

However, many of the Founder’s Pack owners have paid real currency for a free-to-play game. While they did so of their free will, the bare expectation would be to play the game. So, if anything, the negative reviews mean very little in terms of actual gameplay.

But it's an important clue to Smilegate and Amazon Games that fans aren't happy. The publishers have already informed players of their decision to launch brand new servers in Europe. But more such steps will need to be taken quickly if Lost Ark's Steam review is the actual reflection of the game itself.