Review bombing sees Facebook's VR ad test in need of a new game

Resolution Games has pulled Blaston from the proposed VR ad test
(Image credit: Resolution Games)

Less than a week after announcing it intended to start testing ads in VR, Facebook has hit a snag—the game developer it initially announced it was working with has withdrawn (via UploadVR). This comes after a sizable backlash from the community that saw the announced game, Blaston, inundated with negative reviews.

Virtual reality

(Image credit: Valve)

Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR

The review bombing isn't necessarily without merit, as Blaston is a paid-for game. At the time of purchase, gamers didn't know they were going to be treated to virtual advertisements, thus the uproar. Everyone expects ads in free to play games, less so in something you've already paid for.

The developer, Resolution Games, has been quick to backtrack on its decision to try out ads in Blaston, although it hasn't ruled out exploring the idea in the future with its fishing game, Bait!, which just so happens to be a free-to-play title. 

Virtual reality fishing doesn't sound like such a bad concept, although I'm not sure there are so many obvious opportunities for interactive advertisements on the riverbank. Otters with Gucci handbags and Barbour-wearing toads isn't that common an occurrence, although anything is possible in VR I suppose.

Let's face it, now that this particular advertising bottle has been opened, there's no putting the top back on—it's coming whether the review bombing continues or not. The question is, how invasive is this advertising going to be? The original concept for Blaston required the user to actually click on the ad to interact with it, which as Wes pointed out, isn't something that we're naturally inclined to do.

Alan Dexter

Alan has been writing about PC tech since before 3D graphics cards existed, and still vividly recalls having to fight with MS-DOS just to get games to load. He fondly remembers the killer combo of a Matrox Millenium and 3dfx Voodoo, and seeing Lara Croft in 3D for the first time. He's very glad hardware has advanced as much as it has though, and is particularly happy when putting the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD processors, and laptops through their paces. He has a long-lasting Magic: The Gathering obsession but limits this to MTG Arena these days.

Read more
Mark Zuckerberg pretends the metaverse is cool
The metaverse could be a 'legendary misadventure,' Meta executive says, if Reality Labs doesn't turn things around in 2025
A Meta Quest 3S, alongside a Quest 3 and Quest 2, on a stack of PC Gamer magazine.
I'm still waiting for a high-end VR headset good enough to make me ditch my Quest 3
TF2 Heavy giving the Bret Rambo thumbs up
Steam makes its ban on games that rely on in-game ads even more explicit, so no 'watch this to continue playing' stuff will be making its way to our PCs
An AI-generated image, posted to Activision's socials, of a fake Crash Bandicoot game that doesn't actually exist.
Finding a new and inventive way to annoy everybody, Activision has company use AI to generate fake advertisements for games that don't exist
Powerwash Simulator VR screenshow - about to clean off a spraypainted image of a big smiling cat, I guess
Powerwash Simulator studio ends VR development, but at least there are no layoffs happening
Varjo Aero
Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to be not working on RTX 5090s, and its community is opting for strange solutions while waiting for an Nvidia driver release to fix it
Latest in VR Hardware
Varjo Aero
Nvidia confirms 'open issue' with Varjo Aero VR headsets and RTX 50-series graphics cards after affected users ask for help
A "sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting," or essentially a virtual reality tongue in an artificial mouth
Would you like to taste fish soup in VR? Me neither, but this electronic tongue does it anyway
Varjo Aero
Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to be not working on RTX 5090s, and its community is opting for strange solutions while waiting for an Nvidia driver release to fix it
A still from a YouTube video showing The Swedish Maker cutting a piece of wood with power tools while wearing a Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
YouTuber The Swedish Maker wears a Meta Quest 3 VR headset for his entire woodworking project and miraculously emerges with all fingers intact
The HTC Vive XR Elite front three quarter angle
Google is bulk buying HTC Vive engineers to help Android XR become a platform that can rival Meta's VR/AR dominance
Meta Horizon OS on a box.
The upcoming Asus VR project is rumoured to have eye and face tracking, yet the thing I'm most excited about is its OS
Latest in News
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node
Amazon box
Don't panic! The 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' option Amazon just removed was only used by 0.03% of customers and they can still have it
Digital generated image of people surrounded by interactive transparent and glowing panels with data. Visualising smart technology, blockchain and artificial intelligence
Now I shall demand the cookies! Proposed new browsing agreement turns the tables and lets users dictate terms to websites
Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, with a 18A SRAM test wafer
Former Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger becomes executive chairman of a 'Technology Platform Connecting the Faith Ecosystem' to work on Christian AI using DeepSeek
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'