Cultural Insights in Game Reception: A Cross-Language Analysis of User Reviews on Steam

In this study, the authors explore cultural and regional influences on Steam user reviews, highlighting differences in satisfaction between East Asian and Western players. Using a multimethod approach—statistical testing, clustering, and sentiment analysis with large language models on a curated Steam review dataset—the authors found that East Asian users (especially from China, Japan, and South Korea) consistently rate games lower than the global average, with Simplified Chinese reviewers giving the lowest scores worldwide. In contrast, English-speaking users align closely with the global mean. Sentiment analysis revealed that Simplified Chinese negative reviews express more anger, whereas their positive reviews show less joy compared with English ones. These patterns likely reflect cultural differences in expectations about game quality, price sensitivity, and aesthetic preferences. The results emphasize how cultural context shapes player satisfaction and offer actionable insights for developers to improve user experience through culturally aware design.