In a developing controversy within the videogame criticism world, review aggregator Metacritic has removed a recently published review of Resident Evil Requiem after discovering it was likely written by artificial intelligence and attributed to a fictitious author — an incident that has reignited debates over the use of AI in media and platforms that rely on independent, human-authored assessments.
The review in question, which gave Capcom’s latest survival-horror instalment a high score of 9/10, was originally submitted by UK gaming website Videogamer.com and briefly featured in Metacritic’s aggregated score listings upon the game’s launch. Savvy readers, however, raised red flags after noticing the writing felt generic and lacked substantive detail — cues that suggested it hadn’t been written by a real critic but instead generated by an AI.
Digging deeper, observers discovered the credited author — “Brian Merrygold,” described in his byline as an “experienced iGaming and sports betting analyst” — had no verifiable online footprint outside the review and used a profile image seemingly created by an AI model. The review itself was criticised for relying on clichés and broad generalities rather than offering specific impressions of gameplay or first-hand insights.
Following these revelations, Metacritic took the review down and issued a clear statement reaffirming its longstanding policy against including AI-generated evaluations. The company said that if a review is found to be machine-produced, it will be removed promptly and the outlet responsible may be dropped from its aggregation network while an investigation takes place.
The broader situation at Videogamer has also come under scrutiny: sources indicate that the site, once staffed by human editors and part of a respected UK gaming media landscape, underwent significant layoffs and was acquired by a marketing-oriented group, after which a large portion of its content output appears to have shifted toward automated generation. Other recent reviews from the same source have since been pulled from Metacritic as well.
Industry observers argue this episode highlights the growing tension between technological convenience and journalistic credibility. Because Metacritic scores can influence consumer perceptions, commercial performance, and even developers’ promotional strategies, maintaining trust in the integrity of source reviews is seen as particularly important.
As the use of generative AI expands across digital media, this removal serves as a high-profile example of the challenges platforms and publications face in policing authenticity — and of the broader questions about how AI should be incorporated into cultural criticism and professional commentary.
