Once Human Review-Bombed On Steam Due To "Excessive" ToS

By 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sam Woods

Published Jul 10, 2024

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Thread 7

Summary

Netease claims to collect government IDs based on local laws and for parental consent.
Player feedback has led to positive changes in Once Human, with a quick response from the developers regarding new character creation options.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for newly launched free-to-play games.

I'm Worried About Once Human's Seasonal Wipes

O🅠nce Human has a seasonal wipe model for its servers. I'm not sure I'm gonna like it.

Posts 7

Just last week, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The First Descendant was criticized for its 168ꦕ澳洲幸运5开奖网:"predatory" 𝄹monetization practices and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:seemingly dodgy drop rates. Now, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Once Human, which only launched yest♊erday, is ♕being review-bombed on Steam due to major privacy concerns.

"Identity Theft Speedrun"

When you boot up a new game, you're likely to expect that there will be some terms of service to adhere to. What you're less likely to expect is that those terms of service will ask for a "government-issued ID". That's exactly what Once Human does.

Under the "" section of the policy, it states they may collect "first and last name, title, prefix, email address, telephone number, (instant) messaging account, postal address, date of birth, age, gender, country/region, and government-issued ID, such as passport information." That seems a lot, and has caused major concerns within the game's fledgling community. This policy has led to a swathe of , with dozens of players sharing their distrust for what they're expected to agree to.

"𓃲One of my fastest "Uninstalled" games so far. The Privacy Policy is a no-go for me," one , with many more stating that the terms of service made them "close" or "uninstall" the game.

Another player referred to the game as an "," a sentiment echoed by o💟the💦rs who quickly compared it to spyware. Some users even reported that when they booted up the game, other programs were also opened .

Currently, the g𓄧ame has over 3,000 Steam reviews, sitting at mixed with just 56% of those reviews positive.

Netease's Official Response

Once Human - A woman walking in front of a large monster bathed in red light

Starry Studio, a subsidiary of developer and publisher Netease, quickly noted the flurry of negative reviews and released a statement in Once Human's .

The statement claims that the company would only collect government-issued IDs when "the local laws require us to do so, when the identity of a user's parent must be verified to obtain consent for their child, or when the user wishes to correct their age information." Adding that "ID information is deleted immediately after we have fulfilled the purpose for collecting the ID information in the first place."

It also states that it will only collect "information such as socia🧔l media account usernames, names, and address in user surveys that users voluntarily participate in" and that players can "provide as much or as little information in these user surveys if they choose to respond to the survey at all."

While the concerns are valid, Netease's response should go some way to quelling any concerns players have.

It's also a positive sign that Netease is listening to player feedback, as it's the second response they've given within the first 24 hours of Once Human's launch. Shortly after the game became available, players were disappointed to learn that they 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:could only ever create one character, and that character would be permanently lꦅocked to a single server. Starry Studio quickly rectified that issue, confirming in their official Discord that "multiple-character creation is now available𝕴!"