Code Violet was one of last year’s most controversial games, even if it did not see a release in 2025. And only a few weeks into 2026, TeamKill Media’s (the studio behind the game) is making headlines again. And not for good reasons…
You see, the recently released PS5 game has the dubious honor of being the worst-reviewed exclusive on Sony’s platform to date. Its Metacritic score stands at 30 at the time of writing. This puts it between last year’s MindsEye (the worst-rated multiplatform game on the PS5 and widely regarded as 2025’s worst game overall) and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, surely a major disappointment back in 2023. Code Violet, though, has a higher Metacritic score than TeamKill Media’s previous game Quantum Error, another survival horror game which scored 40 back in the day.
This means Code Violet could be the worst PS5 exclusive to date, depending on how much stock you put in reviews, even if only 12 outlets have reviewed the game so far (note: this website has not reviewed Code Violet).
And many reviewers were scathingly critical with Code Violet. The likes of Push Square said the game “is a mess” in their review, adding that “the sexy costumes and horny camerawork seem at odds with both Violet as a character and the tone of the writing”. This last bit will likely remind some of why Code Violet was controversial last year – studio TeamKill Media said they would not be bringing their game to PC due to it being worried about people creating “vulgar mods” of protagonist Violet and other characters in the game. This seems like a moot point now taking into account the game itself appears to have vulgar camerawork too…
The game has also gotten bad reviews from users on Metacritic, so it seems that Code Violet was not the Dino Crisis spiritual successor they were looking forward to.
The poor response on Metacritic contradicts a recent post on X by TeamKill Media in which they claimed that their “fans” had made them “number one” and that they were enjoying the game’s “old school gameplay”. But it’s clear that some might be truly enjoying Code Violet judging by responses on the studio’s social media pages.
Also, it appears the combination of a sexy protagonist, a little controversy and being a PS5 exclusive (the first of the year) has done the game good.
TeamKill Media also posted on X about the game’s early success, saying earlier this month that it was the number 2 top-selling horror game on the PlayStation Store, coming ahead of superb games like Resident Evil 4 and one of last year’s top survival horror entries (Silent Hill f).
So despite all the negative critical reception Code Violet is one of 2026’s first video game hits, and a success for US studio TeamKill Media. There are rumors, though, that the real reason why the studio did not put their game on PC is due to the refund policy of digital stores like Steam. Valve’s store gives users a 14-day period request a refund if they don’t like the game, provided they have not played it for more than 2 hours.
Code Violet is Number 2 best selling horror game on the @PlayStation store!!! 🤩🤩
Thank you all so much!!! 💜💜💜#codeviolet #ps5 #bestsellers pic.twitter.com/QeJc1HLWqI— TeamKill Media (@TeamKillMedia) January 13, 2026
Refunds, though, are hard to get on Sony’s PS Store, with the Japanese company only making exceptions in special cases such as last year’s MindsEye, which shipped in a dismal state… So this is the reason according to some why TeamKill Media only shipped their game on PS5, avoiding PC altogether, so that disgruntled “fans” could not claim refunds if they disliked the game. Nonetheless, their earlier game Quantum Error is apparently planned for PC, so maybe the US studio is holding out on a PC release of Code Violet for the time being perhaps…
Either way, what’s clear is that Code Violet is one of the year’s early video game hits whether people like it or not and despite its (lack of) quality, but this also happens in other forms of entertainment such as cinema when poorly reviewed movies turn out to be the blockbusters of the year for instance. And maybe TeamKill Media can improve the game via patches and updates yet, so that those who buy the game can have a better gaming experience with the PS5 exclusive in the future.