inclementimmigrantMindsEye boss claims game's negative reaction ahead of release has been paid for in "concerted effort" against studio
Based on some comments in the article, it sounds like the guy is accusing Rockstar of financing a smear campaign. Maybe if they made a game that wasn't a straight GTA clone they wouldn't have to worry about something like that.
Wild take. Imagine if you made a souls-like game and fromsoft made a smear campaign against you? Assuming this accusation has any legs. It’s highly morally corrupt to just be “don’t make a souls game then”. Most games can be compared to another existing game franchise, it’s called competition.