Developer blames young players' unfamiliarity with email for After Hours decline

Gamesradar reports indie developer Petter Malmehed says his 2018 alternate-reality puzzle game After Hours has seen its Steam user reviews decline and its completion rate fall, and he blames the trend on young players who "don't know how to write emails anymore."

Malmehed said After Hours "did alright, even if it wasn't a big commercial success." In recent months and years he has observed its user reviews "gradually decline" while its completion rate "is steadily dropping," and he pointed to email as a likely cause. "No form of modern communication requires a subject and a body — it's easy to see how people [who are] not familiar with email aren't filling out both fields," the piece quoted him saying.

He presents this unfamiliarity with email as an explanation for the falling reviews and completions; the report does not say whether he plans to change the game or whether other factors might also be contributing.

Key Topics

Culture, Petter Malmehed, After Hours, Steam, Email, Gen Z