Has *The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin* Crashed and Burned on Steam? Not Even Going Free Can Save Its Reputation

Give it a 6. Because it at least knows what it wants to do, but when it actually tries to land the kick, it swings like one of those cheap anime adaptation games from years ago.

On March 17, The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin officially launched on Steam. Free-to-play. Sounds like the barrier to entry is pretty low, right? But its overall Steam rating is already “Mixed,” and it looks even worse in the Simplified Chinese region, where the positive review rate has dropped to just 25%. That number basically speaks for itself—veteran players will take one look and know: don’t rush to download it.

The main points behind the negative reviews are also pretty consistent: stuttering, lots of bugs, and expensive monetization. Put bluntly, any one of those three is enough to ruin the experience on its own; here, they’re being delivered as a bundle. Making a free game? Fine. Taking cues from other open-world titles? Also fine. But if you can’t even maintain the most basic level of smoothness and stability, then this isn’t a matter of “feeling like Genshin Impact”—it’s more like the beginner village hasn’t even been leveled properly.

That said, it’s not like there are no positive reviews at all. Some players feel that although it clearly follows the Genshin-style formula, its overall quality isn’t bad compared with similar games. I can understand that take. For an anime adaptation, being able to build a large world and present it smoothly already puts it slightly ahead of the many titles that do nothing but cash in on the IP. Note: slightly ahead, not a comeback. Don’t mistake “playable” for “worthy of praise.”

But then again, Steam isn’t like the old console-era magazine review scene, where a layer of nostalgia could blur everything over. Players are spending real time to get into the game, and if it stutters, crashes, or shoves its monetization design right in their face, the reviews are going to be blunt. Especially when the Simplified Chinese region is down to just 25% positive reviews—this is no longer about minor flaws; it means the first impression has already smashed straight through the floor.

If you’re a fan of The Seven Deadly Sins and just want to check out the characters and worldbuilding, then sure, you can wait for future optimization before deciding whether to stick with it long term. It’s free anyway, so trying it won’t cost you a download fee—but it very well may cost you time. And if you were already tired of this kind of open-world gacha game in the first place, then the answer is even simpler: wait and see. Let it clean up the bugs and performance issues first, then talk about everything else. In its current state, it feels like many anime adaptation games from back in the day: the promotional images look convincing enough, but the moment you actually get your hands on it, the cracks start to show.

This also points to a broader trend: players today are no longer so easily fooled by the word “free.” You may not charge an entry fee, but the experience that follows still has to hold up. Otherwise, your reputation will collapse even faster than those disastrous titles from the PS2 era. An IP can only help get people through the door; whether they stay or not still depends on the game itself.