When games are released, developers usually see a portion of the revenue based on the amount of sales. In this way, their performance is tied to their income. MTV's Stephen Totilo recently found out that sometimes developers see their income tied to the review score that their game receives, regardless of how many copies are sold.

Here’s the way it works: a game publisher agrees to finance the work of a development studio and includes a stipulation that certain bonuses or royalties won’t be delivered unless the game achieves a certain Metacritic score. If you’re that developer and you agree to that deal, you better hope reviewers give you a fair shake, no?

The unfortunate part of the formula appears when the publisher has influenced the development of the title after this agreement is made, which may cause a lower review score. If the developers are not in control of their own product, then the tie between effort and reward is lost, and the motivation to create a quality game disappears. Another problem is that new genres may receive only low-to-average scores since many reviewers will not like the genre, and there is nothing else to compare the quality to.

Perhaps publishers will not be able to force developers into these types of agreements now that they are more publicly known, or maybe developers will simply request that their royalties be based on the vote of the consumer with their wallet.

Low Metacritic Scores Cause Game Publishers To Withhold Developer Royalties [MTV]