Forgot to add:

This idea sucks bigly. It's misleading and will cause even more fighting.

IMO game scores come in 5 categories. And this only applies if you use Opencritic, and set it to only use reviewers you trust.

0-74 Don't bother. Games at this level are not worth your time or money.
75-79 A game that is worth taking a risk on, or picking up in the bargain bin, if you are a huge fan of the genre, or series.
80-84 Pick this up if you like the genre.
85-94 A must play, unless you don't like the genre.
95+ Play this. You hate the genre? Try it anyway. It may change your mind.

It is probably some big conspiracy. Or! It is reviewed by different people. Logical isn't it?

Dude. Ninety..nine. As a Zelda fan I take great pride in that.

And now it’s even got a cool Must Play stamp!

I don't think it's a conspiracy. But there could be some media bias going on. You never know.

There's no such thing as a must-play. If a Fifa or NBA game got 100% Metascore, I wouldn't buy that game because I'm just not interested. If a JRPG got 70% I'd be concerned but it might still be a game more to my taste than a survival horror that gets 90%. Example: The Last Of Us is a great game but I've started it twice and can't get through it for the frustration ... if any game was going to be a “must-play” it's that but no way I “have to” play that game.

Play the games you want, not the ones someone tells you that you must play.

Surprised this has gotten so much traction. It’s a little badge next to high-scoring games. What is the controversy?

I'd say it's about publishers putting even more pressure on developers (remember Obsidian and Fallout New Vegas with 84 Meta and no bonuses, since it didn't hit 85?), reinforcing general perception of your average mainstream gamer that anything beneath 90 is not that good of a game and of course, even more than it is now, shall we say...intensives...from publishers to major publications for stellar scores.

Opencritic has four different badges, and nobody complained. But then again, there is a difference between saying a game is "Mighty", and saying a game is a "Must Play".

I get what you’re saying, but I’m not sure the addition of an icon will aggravate a Metacritic culture that’s already very well established. I think it’s up to consumers to do their homework and not treat Metacritic as gospel. WE give this badge its power, after all.