The Last of Us 2 stars blame “bots” for negative reviews

Michael Gwilliam
Ellie from The Last of Us aims her bow at an enemy

With The Last of Us Part 2 finally released to the public, fans and critics alike seem to be at odds regarding the game’s reception with polar opposite scores. Now, two major stars of the game, Laura Bailey and Shannon Woodward, are blaming the negativity on “bots.”

The Last of Us Part II has been receiving universal acclaim from the standard games media, with multiple perfect scores and overwhelming praise earning it a 95 metascore on Metacritic.

However, the same cannot be said for user reviews where the tone is completely different. The game sits at an abysmal 3.4 rating with over twice as many negative ratings than positive ones.

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Taking to Twitter, Shannon Woodward, who voiced and did the motion capture for the character of Dina, wrote that there were “a lot of very upset bots afoot today,” accompanied by the eyes emoji.

“All the bots,” replied Laura Bailey, who voices the game’s antagonist Abby, in a since-deleted tweet.

Voice actors Shannon Woodward and Laura Bailey blame bots.
Stars of The Last of Us Part 2 are blaming “bots” for poor scores.

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From there, Woodward further insinuated that “bots” were responsible for negative reviews of the game by claiming that “bot farms” were “fully activated.”

The talk of “bots” is likely a reference back to the criticism that faced Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi, which faced a similar situation to The Last of Us Part 2.

With The Last Jedi, it was received well by critics, but panned by fans, eventually leading to some blaming the scathing reviews on Russian bots and trolls, however, there are conflicting opinions on whether that really was the case.

The Last of Us 2 actress complains on Twitter.
Dina’s voice actress in The Last of Us Part 2 thinks bots are to blame for bad reviews.

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It will be interesting to see how the public’s opinion on the game changes as more players experience it for themselves and complete the campaign, which should take anywhere from twenty to forty hours.

Until then, The Last of Us Part II is looking like it will be one of the most divisive games in history.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam