Despite its fair share of pre-launch controversy, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has debuted to impressive success and decent review scores, drawing in over 160,000 concurrent players on Steam and maintaining strong reviews from critics and audiences alike. Even many of the “anti-woke” voices in the gaming sphere, such as SmashJT, have praised the game, brushing aside previous concerns over optional same-sex romance options in favor of recognizing its strong RPG mechanics, narrative, and historical depth.
A screenshot from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2024), Warhorse Studios
But while players seem to be celebrating the game’s success, game director Daniel Vávra appears to be on a different path, turning his frustration toward journalists and reviews that haven’t been as favorable as he’d like.
Vávra Lashes Out at Negative Review
One of the more notable incidents occurred when GamesHub writer Jam Walker published a Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review giving the game 2.5 out of 5 stars. Walker barely touched on the game’s representation controversy, giving it only a passing mention toward the end of the review. His criticism primarily focused on legitimate issues with the characters, narrative, and mechanics. His Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review was thoughtful, measured, and in line with the review scores of many other major releases.
However, this didn’t sit well with Vávra, who took to X to attack Walker’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review. Sharing a screenshot of the score on Metacritic.
A trusted news source. Mission accomplished. We no longer have 90% Metacritic score. Be proud of your excellent journalistic standards! pic.twitter.com/HBeoGRLoRV
— Daniel Vávra ⚔ (@DanielVavra) February 4, 2025
“A trusted news source,” Vávra said, mocking the writer. “Mission accomplished. We no longer have 90% Metacritic score. Be proud of your excellent journalistic standards!”
The post immediately backfired, with many players—including those who actually enjoy Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2—calling him out for the unnecessary outburst.
A user named TearyBoi responded, saying, “Bashing journalists for not giving you the score you want isn’t a good look and I love this game.”
Bashing journalists for not giving you the score you want isnt a good look and I love this game
— Pasta Weed (@tearyboi) February 4, 2025
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Another user, Endthusiasm, called for Vávra to focus on actual customer reception instead.
Dude, this is not it.
Obviously you can be unhappy that you’re not getting glowing review numbers, but this is silly. Focus on your actual customers reviews.
You know, the ones you didn’t chase off.— End, Thus I Am (@endthusiam) February 4, 2025
“Dude, this is not it,” he said. “Obviously you can be unhappy that you’re not getting glowing review numbers, but this is silly. Focus on your actual customer reviews. You know, the ones you didn’t chase off.”
Update: This games save system is complete garbage. Why they kept the Savior Schnapps system I have no idea but it’s actually horrible. The only reliable way to save your game is to save and quit to main menu then immediately hit continue and load the game again.
This is the…
— Endymion (@EndymionYT) February 5, 2025
Walker’s criticism falls in line with others who haven’t enjoyed the KCD2 experience. YouTuber Endymion took a lot of issue with the game’s mechanics when discussing his overall impressions on X in the thread detailed above.
Steam Reviews Are Strong—But Censorship Concerns Loom
While Metacritic scores fluctuate based on aggregated critic reviews (the game still has an 88% favorable score as of this writing), Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is holding strong on Steam, where 90.37% of over 7,000 reviews are positive. However, concerns over possible review censorship have emerged after Pirat_Nation shared a screenshot showing Steam allegedly banning negative reviews that criticized the game’s inclusion of “woke” elements.
Steam has started to ban negative Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 reviews that call out the co-founder for misleading and “woke” stuff in-game pic.twitter.com/nalypVMe13
— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) February 5, 2025
Regardless of where someone stands on the issue, reviews are subjective opinions—and no matter the reasoning behind that opinion, it remains valid to the person expressing it. If someone believes that certain content elements negatively impact their experience, they have the right to say so. By silencing negative reviews that call out specific ideological or creative choices, platforms risk misleading potential buyers who might otherwise have avoided a game that doesn’t align with their preferences.
If someone dislikes a game because of mechanics, story pacing, or difficulty, their review is welcomed. But if a player dislikes a game due to representation choices or political undertones, should their review be dismissed? If platforms start curating reviews based on why a player dislikes something rather than what they dislike, it creates an unbalanced, manipulated review environment that does not properly inform customers.
Vávra’s PR Nightmare Continues
This latest controversy follows a string of self-inflicted PR wounds by Daniel Vávra over the past few months.
A screenshot from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2024), Warhorse Studios
For Example:
- Vávra previously lashed out at YouTuber Rev Says Desu, calling him a “grifter” over a video discussing preorder cancellations. This attack was widely criticized, especially since Rev’s video actually defended the game against accusations of being “woke.”
- Major content creators, including SmashJT, Vara Dark, and Grummz, turned against him after he continued to lash out at the gaming community instead of focusing on constructive dialogue.
- His feud with Rev led to more preorder cancellations, completely undermining his own marketing strategy and causing rifts in the very audience that once supported the game.
The Bigger Picture
Despite the undeniable commercial success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Vávra’s repeated public tantrums are needlessly creating negative press for his own game. Instead of basking in the strong launch, he has chosen to attack reviews, alienate content creators, and fuel online feuds.
A screenshot from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2024), Warhorse Studios
His complaints about Metacritic scores are especially hypocritical given that the game is still sitting at a high rating, proving that many reviewers and actual customers are enjoying it. If Vávra focused on that rather than waging war against the press, his game’s reputation would be in an even better place.
At this point, the biggest enemy of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 isn’t critics, YouTubers, or “woke outrage.” It’s Daniel Vávra himself.
How do you feel about Daniel Vávra attacking a critical Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review? Do you think Steam is censoring reviews based on the reasons behind them? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
