The Quiet Man Gets Bizarre Accolades Trailer

The Quiet Man might just be the worst game to have come out from a major publisher this year. Developed by Human Head Studios and published by Square Enix, the game makes you skeptical about the idea that all publicity is good publicity. The game currently sits at a Metacritic score of 29, making it the review aggregator’s worst game of 2018 and while the validity of Metacritic scores can be debated, it does point to the fact that the game was received extremely negatively upon its release.

Yet nonetheless, on Thursday, Square Enix released an accolades trailer for the game. It’s a bizarre one: The trailer embraces all the criticisms in a series of quotes, and you have to admit, after you overcome the initial shock, it’s all pretty funny.

It’s an unusual move for Square Enix; the company is one of the biggest in the industry, and such companies aren’t exactly known best for publicly embracing negative reviews, much less having a laugh at themselves. The scores for The Quiet Man won’t magically improve; the game will still be widely disliked by critics and players alike, and there are no known post-launch content plans—so why not have a bit of a laugh and move on?

Whether the humor of the trailer and the path Square Enix has taken works for you, it’s hard not to respect this bold move. If nothing else, it provides some great meme material. Watch the accolades trailer below.