Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 62 | 43 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 48% | 51 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 62% | 61 | 76 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Apr 28, 2026) · 76 reviews sampled · 74 total reviews in window · weighted 37.8 up / 23.6 down · computed 3h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (62)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 50
“The first hours of the game had a lot to offer, but the gameplay quickly became repetitive, and all the smaller and larger mistakes began to surface, which in the end hurt the Empire of Sin more than it should.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Not quite the single malt, but not the cheap swill either.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Maybe you can forgive the game for its horrible repetition, boring, practically zero story and useless diplomacy, which probably serves only as a gameplay enhancement. What you get is a promising title that's really great for the first few hours. But unfortunately, really only for the first few hours. It's a huge shame, because this title could have been just as great as, say, the aforementioned XCOM 2. Empire of Sin has great graphics and a 1920s atmosphere that could be sliced up. This experience is accentuated by the great historical music. However, the positive aspects of the game end there.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“Empire of Sin has too many bugs and too many balancing issues to make it worth putting up with its insanely uninspired combat and lacklustre story.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“Empire of Sin is undoubtedly an excellent idea, a clever meshing together of management sim and turn-based tactical action that's set in a hugely compelling era of Chicago's criminal history. There are some cool mechanics here, too; the well-executed overworld map of the town, the gangster black book with its complex relationships and those tense sit-downs with rival ganglords. However, all of this promise is held back by copious technical problems, game-breaking bugs and management and combat systems that feel half-baked and scrappy. There are more patches and updates planned and we desperately would like to see this one sort itself out but, as things stand, it's virtually impossible to recommend, and it remains to be seen if future updates can bash it into shape.”
read full review ↗ - 55
““Empire of Sin is great when every mechanic and system are in its place and in perfect harmony. Sadly, these moments are few and far between. At this point its just a very great game in theory. Maybe Romero Games will make it better with expansions and updates, but that remains to be seen”.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Empire of Sin is a good game held back only by a lack of variety in ways to win, leaving most forms of diplomacy and expansion feeling useless long-term.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“A strategy game taking place in prohibition-era roaring '20s, which has players role-playing as a bigtime gangster, slowly building their enterprise, and doing anything expected in such a line of work, whether that's selling alcohol, running whorehouses, striking deals with other crooks, "renting" guns for hire, looting or ransacking establishments, bribing the boys in blue, and many, many, many more. Quite an ambitious title, right? Sadly, an assortment of technical issues, an annoyingly busy UI, a total lack of balance, as well as a lack of challenge, has led to something that just isn't fun. Potential, thy name is Empire of Sin… but potential is great only when met.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Despite an overwhelming number of strategic options and features, many of Empire of Sin's mechanics just don't mesh well or they can be completely ignored. Playthroughs will feel roughly similar to what you've done previously, and it becomes a repetitive affair and a chore to see what else you could do.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“Oh dear. Empire of Sin has a fantastic idea at its core, and the jolly soundtrack perfectly complements the over the top character designs. But the game is a technical mess, littered with a spectacular array of bugs, and crippled by poor design choices that derail whatever little momentum the game may otherwise have had. Empire of Sin? They should have called it Buggy Malone.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“Empire of Sin has good ideas hobbled by poor execution and painfully repetitive gameplay.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“This is a game built around the idea that emergent gameplay is fun, and it is. That's why the technical problems are such a bummer. Empire of Sin is a good game, but the Nintendo Switch is the worst place to play it.”
read full review ↗
INDIANTVCZ
3DNews
Gaming Professors
Jump Dash Roll
Nintendo Life
Hu3br
RPGamer
Cubed3
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Push Square
Capsule Computers
NintendoWorldReport…and 50 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Farewell UpdateApr 28, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Precinct Update Patch NotesNov 18, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Dev Diary: The Precinct Update Sneak PeekMay 20, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- "The Gangster Update" - Patch NotesMay 18, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Public Beta for Patch 1.05Apr 22, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Dev Diary: 1.04 Auto-ResolveMar 25, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Patch Notes 1.04Mar 17, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Public Beta for Patch 1.04Mar 5, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Dev Diary: Diplomacy & Gangsters changes in 1.03Feb 25, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Patch Notes 1.03Feb 8, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Public Beta of Patch 1.03 - get in on the action!Feb 1, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Dev Diary: A sneak peek at 1.03Jan 28, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- An update on the future of Empire of SinDec 25, 2020
- Empire of Sin - Hotfix 1.02.38890Dec 9, 2020
- Empire of Sin - Hotfix 1.02.38741Dec 3, 2020
- Empire of Sin Version 1.01 Patch Notes - PCDec 1, 2020significant · resets scoring window