The team behind cozy life sim Starsand Island has raised concerns about what appears to be an organized campaign flooding their game with suspicious positive reviews. Seed Sparkle Lab, the Chinese studio developing the anime-inspired game, posted a message on Steam addressing the unusual activity. Starsand Island launched on February 11 in Early Access on Steam and Xbox Preview, and is included with Xbox Game Pass.

“We have recently noticed a large number of overly positive ‘praise’ comments about our game appearing across various social platforms,” the developer wrote in their Steam update.

“At first, we believed this meant our game was being recognized and appreciated.”

However, the studio soon noticed red flags. Many reviews were posted after very short playtime, appeared at nearly identical times, and showed signs of being AI-generated. The developer also discovered that some accounts refunded the game after leaving their reviews.

“Is this some kind of overpraise as an attack?” the studio questioned. “We have no concrete evidence, but it does feel as though someone may be doing this intentionally.”

The studio pointed out that this method isn’t cheap, since leaving a Steam review requires purchasing the game first, making the situation even more puzzling.

Seed Sparkle Lab’s message to whoever might be behind the reviews was direct: “Making an indie game is not easy. We simply want to focus on building a good product and giving the players who truly like our game a better experience. So, to whoever may be behind this, please stop. Please let us focus on making our game in peace. We pose no threat to anyone.”