Raid: Shadow Legends' Notorious Sponsorships

     This article is sponsored by Raid: Shadow Legends.

     No, not really, but similar words have been spoken by thousands, mocking the many YouTube sponsorships of this game. These sponsored ads would often begin with praise of how ambitious, free, and unmatched the game is in the mobile gaming world. Then, perhaps the YouTuber lists off features, shares their nickname on the game, and finally, asks that their viewers click the link in the description and receive 50k silver and free epic champion. These sponsorships soon became notorious for being annoying, widespread carbon-copies of each other.

     The Origins

     Raid: Shadow Legends, developed by Plarium Games, is a fantasy RPG for mobile platforms. Recently, though, it has taken to the PC world, introducing cross-play features.

    In the game, players fight enemies in a turn-based combat system using a variety of champions they unlock throughout gameplay.

     The game was released on August 2nd, 2018 and was well-received by critics. Gamezebo writes that "thankfully, [Raid: Shadow Legends] trades the typical anime-style visuals for a more realistic, dark fantasy look" and that it is a "truly stunning experience, with some of the finest attack animations and environmental effects we’ve seen in the genre so far." The ordinary gamer, however, would soon become irritated by the ubiquity of its ads throughout various YouTubers' videos.

      For instance, here, Youtuber Foekoe makes fun of Raid: Shadow Legends in a humorous video, expressing how he believes that the game is terrible and that the sponsorships turn the Youtubers receiving them into "robots."

     


     Raid: Shadow Legends Now

     Thousands criticize the game for being pay-to-win, "grindy", deceptive, and unbalanced, among other reasons. However, Plarium Games still manages to uphold high ratings wherever it's available. Some speculate that they pay for 5-star reviews.

     For example, YouTuber D'Angelo Wallace made a video criticizing Raid for this reason and other, more serious, and more illegal, reasons only weeks ago.

     

     In his video, D'Angelo criticizes those behind Raid for putting money over quality and being seriously dishonest about whether or not they sponsor and pay YouTubers. He brings up how they violated federal laws.

     
     The Future of Raid: Shadow Legends

     It is unclear what's in store for Raid in the future. Since February, Google searches of the game have been on a sharp decline and may continue to sink.

     

     One comment on a recent YouTube video said the following:

     

     Many players have not been happy with Plarium Games' shadiness, greed, and, well, their mediocre mobile game and have expressed their dissatisfaction like this person here.


    Concluding Thoughts

    Raid: Shadow Legends, a notorious and infamous mediocre mobile game, blew up in 2019 and is still being talked about now. It began with annoying sponsorships and quickly became a meme. In a way, the attention was great for Plarium Games' RPG.

     Though its future is unclear, the game likely won't go away any time soon. Perhaps, though, a new, infamous mobile game like Raid will blow up and take its place as the most annoyingly advertised mobile RPG. 

     Even if that does happen, it is doubtful that the gaming community will ever forget this notorious mobile game.