Xbox’s latest exclusive asks players to review it after the end credits roll

Xbox Series X/S exclusive The Medium is seemingly the first major console game to ask players to review it once they’ve completed its story.

After the game’s end credits roll, a screen appears with a message asking players to leave feedback on the game, with a button prompt then sending them to the Microsoft Store.

Once the player has agreed to visit the Microsoft Store, they can then give The Medium a rating out of five stars and add a written review if they want.

“The Medium is our biggest and most ambitious game that we have made so far,” the message reads. “It’s a close and personal project that was years in the making. We poured our souls into it and we’ve made a lot of great memories during the development.

“However, as great as it is to make games, we do what we love with one person in mind – and that’s you. Your thoughts mean a lot to us, and they make us better developers. This is why we would love to hear your impression of The Medium.”

Although it’s common for mobile games to ask players to leave a review, this is seemingly the first time that a major console game has done so.

Like many digital storefronts, the Xbox Store displays a 5-star aggregate user score on the product pages of each of its games, with the user able to click through to read user-written impressions.

The Medium’s call to action seemingly marks another next-gen console integration of content that users would usually have to pick up their phone to access.

PlayStation 5 launched with built-in guides for its software, with players able to access videos and tips created by game developers.

The Medium launches on 28 January for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Set in Poland, the game puts players in the role of Marianne, a psychic medium who travels to an abandoned hotel to find out more about both her powers and the hotel’s dark past.

further reading

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The Medium review: Bloober’s paranormal walking simulator is more disturbing than scary

The Xbox Series X/S exclusive is packed with atmosphere but somewhat lacking in bite

In our The Medium review we stated: “The Medium won’t give you any sleepless nights, but treat it as a paranormal thriller rather than an all-out horror game and you’ll find an interesting story (albeit a disturbing one at times) that will encourage you to push through its slightly repetitive split-screen gimmick to find out how it all ends. A short but intriguing tale.”

At the time of publishing, the Xbox exclusive has received mixed reviews from media outlets that published early verdicts. According to Metacritic, The Medium has an aggregate score of 72 from 47 critic reviews.