New King Kong Game Criticized As “Low Effort Shovelware”

Upcoming film tie-in game Skull Island: Rise of Kong has received criticism on social media after gameplay footage found its way online. Following a negative response upon its announcement back in July, potential players have been eager to see exactly how the game would fare come its scheduled October 17 launch date.

Several users have taken to X (formerly Twitter) ahead of its release to share snippets of its cutscenes and gameplay, with some strong words directed at the game.

X user KongShots criticized the $40 price point. The footage they shared includes two minutes of a boss battle marred by a teleporting Kong, janky movement, and muddy textures:

Another user, RickDaSquirrel, shared video from a cutscene that incorporates an odd still frame interjection and awkward animations:

The game is developed by IguanaBee and published by GameMill Entertainment. The latter, in particular, has built a profile out of publishing the kinds of licensed games that proliferated in the early 2000s. In the past few years, GameMill has published games based on Cobra Kai, NERF, and Nickelodeon crossovers. Prior to this new King Kong game, its most recent effort was Avatar: The Last Airbender – Quest for Balance, which wasn’t very good.

So, while the state of the game probably isn’t very surprising in light of that background, it is considering the game’s positioning against the MonsterVerse. The multimedia franchise has gone from strength to strength since debuting with Godzilla in 2014. It’s even more odd considering Warner Bros. involvement as co-producer and distributor of the franchise and its use of in-house studios to expand other keystone properties through the likes of Hogwarts Legacy, Gotham Knights, and Wonder Woman.

The final proof of the pudding is in the eating, however, so we’ll have to wait until we go hands-on to see how the game holds up on release.