There is no way to avoid it unless you avoid reading any kind of feedback, if you went to Yotei videos on Youtube, or official posts on any social media, every single comment section was plaged by that.

I agree devs should not fear doing what they want to do, but the way their line up ended up with will undoubtly attract these people like vultures, specially now that even the Kratos studio (they've basically only did it up until now) is making a game with a protagonist and it turns out to be a woman. The pieces of shit were already mocking Kratos for not wanting to be a monster anymore, even as he never wanted to be one to begin with, and the discourse has caused the majority of the online community to have Ragnarok as the worst game in the series, some even saying its shit, even as it's in many ways the very best in the series, and my personal favorite.

Online hate killed The Last of Us Part 2 legs, it has a record launch but didn't remotedly come close to having Part 1 legs. It killed Forbidden West legs as well. It affect the perception of the community about Ragnarok quality. The impact is real, even as I also agree it has cooled off a bit since last year. Yotei was a big focus of them but aside from it they have been a bit less active since.

The problem is, I'm sad about Kratos not being the main character, really sad, regardless of who will be the new one, and many people will feel the same, so even fans like me can just decide not to play it because it's not about Kratos anymore. I'm very much looking foward to it anyway, but way less hyped.

@twintail

This time my post above can serve as my reply to you as well, lol.

Just announced! You guys did it! You got your sequel!

I'll say this, but I don't think HFW sales were hurt by negative discourse, but rather than quick addition to PS Plus. 

And I think with Yotei selling so well, we may be pass this affecting games. TloU2 especially was hurt because leaks (which were not all even accurate) just caused too much drama. 

Not the biggest fan of the "going viral" concept but this extra bit of SAROS gameplay has 117k likes on Instagram.

Housemarque only has 15k followers on Insta and the median of likes on SAROS posts is around 1.5k so this is great. 

TLOU2 is an extremely polarising game which was rewarding in the end but an exhausting process. Arguably it's existence is not necessary and the series could of easily wrapped up after the first.

I haven't gotten past first few hours of Forbidden West but the game isn't held to an especially high regard (it's obviously good but not revered) and I think the novelty of the world from the first entry passed.

Essentially I don't think online backlash was responsible for either of those games somewhat front loaded sales. but instead lack of positive word of mouth and continued interest. That relates to the game content itself, not the political noise in the background.

As Twintails said Yotei is having great legs, and unlike theotger games referenced, it doesn't have a crazy over performing prequel to be compared to. Tsushima performed well but not 20m well. Looked at in Isolation All of these sequels have been a success. It's also not uncommon of sequels to struggle in comparison to a first breakout entry but still be deemed a huge success in its own right  (see Tears of the Kingdom vs Breath of the Wild)

Moreover its important to not look at games from the perspective of a shareholder/investor. Focus on enjoying the experiences. The one game I would actually would express concern with is Horizon 3, and that's simply because I do genuinely feel like something isn't quiet connecting despite the initial interest in the IP. I would like to see Guerilla take some more daring risks with characterisation, story, gameplay mechanics and create something a bit less square. I have both entries and haven't got through either. 

I’ve only ever played a single GOW and Kratos is such an unappealing character to play that I never want to play another one but a red head with DMC style combat? Sounds like we getting Heavenly Sword 2 and that I’m excited for. 

Plus we will play her : 

So imo, Bungie is making Marathon have even more of a niche audience than it already was.

They just announced their seasonal model, and the number of resets each season is honestly pretty staggering.
-All Unlocked Gear
-Contract Progression
-Faction Progression
-Player Level

You'll get to keep things like cosmetics, titles, and codex unlocks (story and lore), but that's it. So if you're a casual player, you're gonna unlock some things, but then you'll lose it when the next season rolls around.

Bungie says this will allow the game to still feel dangerous and make loot feel meaningful, but honestly, how can loot feel meaningful if I know I'm going to lose it all?

Maybe it's because I'm too new to Extraction Shooters, but at least in Arc Raiders, that kind of reset is optional, not mandatory. It's basically viewed as Prestige mode in Call of Duty.

This lines Marathon to be catered towards the hardcore crowd. The dedicated ones that will do the grind, knowing there's not much time before losing everything. Titles are a big chase in Destiny 2, and it looks like Bungie will carry those into Marathon, but idk if I'll be able to grind Marathon the way I did Destiny. Especially knowing I won't be keeping anything outside of titles and lore.

If I ever had interest in this game losing basically everything I get the few times I play it here and there would definitely be a horrible experience.