It’s early days in 2026 but a PlayStation exclusive has already been the talk of the community for the first 3 weeks of the year. Unfortunately that talk is for all the wrong reasons as the developer of Code Violet, TeamKill Media, has been setting fans off in all the wrong ways. Sure they are getting buzz, but will it ultimately lead to sustained success?

Any Publicity Is Good Publicity?

For as much flak as the game is getting, it currently sits at a 40 on Open Critic and a 30 on Metacritic, it is getting talked about A LOT. It is very rare that a game deemed this bad by critics, we scored it a 5/10 in our review for what its worth, actually gets talked about for very long. Yet Code Violet has been dominating the chatter in social media for the better part of 2 weeks.

They say any publicity is good publicity and Code Violet is certainly testing that theory. TeamKill Media is saying the game is doing well for them and pointed out that it was currently the #2 horror game on PlayStation on January 13th. Whether people are genuinely checking out the game because they are interested, or they want to see if it is the trainwreck many claim it to be remains to be seen. Regardless, the game is selling fairly well it seems for a 4 person studio charging $50 a pop for their indie game. In that sense you have to give them some credit.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to give them much credit beyond that. I am all for giving small studios a chance, and I am known for playing games that most deem to be just ok or worse. I’ve always enjoyed highlighting games that don’t get enough shine. Sometimes those games end up being gems, sometimes they are indeed not worth your time. Either way I never regret giving them a chance.

And many out there are like myself, and likely would have given Code Violet a chance, or at the very least gave them kudos for being such a small team and putting out a game. Gamers generally tend to cheer for games to succeed, we want developers to thrive and make great games after all! The problem here is that for all the buzz TeamKill is generating for the game, it is hurting themselves in the long run with how they are conducting their business.

Striking Down Criticism

The biggest gripe most seem to have with how TeamKill is carrying themselves following the launch of Code Violet is how they are handling criticism. Many content creators are creating content around the game which is immediately being taken down with copyright claims from the studio if they are harsh on the game. Positive videos and posts remain, but they are doing what they can to minimize negativity around the game.

Users on X like Deez Games has been highlighting all the copyright claims on themselves and others, telling gamers to boycott the title. While things may be getting out a hand a little on both ends, the fact that things even got to this point is in itself an issue that could have been avoided.

Truly this is unfortunate. While again, it may create more buzz around the game, it is going to leave a sour taste in many gamers mouths. Rather than accepting the criticism and learning, again they are a 4 person team, they are choosing to call it hate and ignore it. If they listened and either fixed Code Violet, or used this to build an even better game, the studio would be better off and could have a great comeback story.

Leaning Into Console Wars

The other issue they’ve run into is leaning into the fanboy groups and woke crowd. There previous game, Quantum Error, was also a PlayStation console exclusive that to most wasn’t a great game. At the time they leaned into the console wars stating that the game couldn’t run on Xbox. There’s questions as to whether the game ever was actually in development for Xbox as the game never did come to the platform. Whatever the case may be, it was a beacon for the console wars in the early 2020’s.

Now for Code Violet they’ve dug in even further and refused to release the game on PC, citing that they didn’t want PC modders to do weird things to the protagonist which is a woman. That sounds noble at first blush, but when you say you don’t want to see modders put the character in lewd outfits, and then turn around and put her in a bunch of lewd outfits yourself, you kinda lose the argument there.

Gamers are claiming that the only reason they skipped PC is because Steam has a very easy refund policy and that everyone would simply return the game once they realized its bad. PlayStation has a notoriously difficult refund policy, so many think that is the only reason they kept the game to just PlayStation. Whether there is truth to that or not, I think they just happen to be big PlayStation fans and want to work on that platform, which is fine. There’s just better ways to go about it.

Paying For Positivity?

The last thing I’m going to touch on here that is causing a lot of chatter in the community is the supposed paying off of content creators to create good content and defend the game online. This one I personally have a much harder time buying, especially considering the size of this team and the minimum budget they likely have.

I have no doubt that they targeted some smaller content creators for review codes who are more likely to praise the game. Those creators are more likely to be persuaded by “free” games and turn a blind eye in order to not upset the developer/publisher. Whether we like it or not, that is a real thing, and one of the issues facing content creators in general.

For that though, I don’t really blame TeamKill. Naturally you are going to want to find gamers who will like your product and talk good about it. As long as its not forced, that’s just good marketing. This speaks more so on the creators themselves in my opinion.

And that’s not to say that some of these creators and defenders online don’t actually enjoy the game. I’ve played plenty of games that were deemed bad but others that I actually enjoyed. I wouldn’t then call them a 9/10 or anything, but I thought they were better than the scores suggested. If those creators truly feel that way and aren’t swayed by a review code, more power to them. Gamers need to realize that we all have different tastes and one gamers trash is another gamers treasure.

Can They Turn Public Perception Around?

The question now is can TeamKill Media turn the perception of them around or not. They definitely can if they focus on the right things. They’ve surely made some decent money from Code Violet now to make an even better project the next time out. Making a game more people deem good is the best antidote for a studio trying to have long term success.

Based on what reviews are saying of the game, there is at least the bones for Code Violet to be an alright game. With more polish we probably aren’t talking about it as a worst game of the year contender, but that is up to the developer to execute better next time around.

How they handle the online scrutiny going forward will tell us a lot. Stop fighting with people online and striking down their content. Take criticism in stride and learn from it. And lastly, stop making outlandish claims and then immediately contradicting them with your actions. Public perception can quickly change if they do these things.

The better question is will they? My gut tells me no as there is enough of a track record now to say this is just how they are. And if that is the case, I hope they aren’t surprised when the fans grow tired of it and stop supporting them altogether.