Google Play Store apps reviews are going to be recalculated starting this summer and will significantly impact pretty much every app.
Having lifetime scores on apps from the Google Play Store doesn’t really make sense. If an app is not all that good when it’s initially launched but continues to get improved over time, it will never be able to shake that initial bad start.
The reverse is true as well, which means that that if an app had a good review for most if its life, and suddenly stops working, it would take a long time for the review score to reflect that, if ever. Moving to a new type of reviews is the way to go.
Not the first ones
The idea to show a review score based on the latest reviews is not exactly original. For example, Steam moved on to such a review score system specifically to show that some games could get better after patches and DLCs. It’s also true that Steam has a much more advanced system that’s light years ahead of what Google Play store is about to implement.
“Many of you told us that you want a rating that reflects a more current version of your app, not what it was years ago — and we agree. So instead of a lifetime cumulative value, your Google Play Store rating will be recalculated to give more weight to your most recent ratings. Users won’t see the updated rating in the Google Play Store until August, but you can preview your new rating in the Google Play Console today,” says Google.
It's unclear what exactly means and what type of formula is going to be used. In any case, the lifetime review score is still going to play a part, but recent ratings are going to be a lot more important.
Once the new system becomes visible to users, the Google Play Store top charts are going to be quite different.