The sci-fi first-person shooter (FPS) game "Dead Effect 2" was released in 2015 and is the sequel to 2013's "Dead Effect." The sequel has recently been released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but Czech developer BadFly Interactive has been under fire for sending threatening emails to potential game reviewers.

According to COGconnected, BadFly's CEO Lubomír Dykast has sent emails containing review codes to gaming websites. While this is the norm when it comes to developers wanting to create exposure for their titles, the emails came with a threatening reminder.

Dykast's email reads, "Let me just mention one thing, though: this is an indie game which, unfortunately, is very often compared with big-budget games, and that's quite a problem and very much damages its reputation in final ratings. Please take into consideration the fact that this game was created by a small team of developers (11) who just try to develop a good shooter game, and that's about it. Unfortunately, a number of journalists have other, much bigger expectations from it, and that's very damaging for us eventually."

The emails ends with, "Also, we're working on several other games that are definitely interesting, and if your review or preview of Dead Effect 2 is very negative, you won't receive any keys from us in the future."

Meanwhile, Eurogamer has revealed that not long after the article Shawn Petraschuk wrote for COGconnected went online, a representative from BadFly contacted the author through another email. BadFly rep Martin Pospisil apologetically says that their company "screwed it."

The email Petraschuk received from Pospisil reads, "The thing is we care about our game so much. We are creating our dream and we really want it to succeed."

The rep added that in their defense, BadFly does not employ "a native English speaker." The email continues, "The point of our message was just to see us as what we are - a small indie studio."

While the dev's apology sounds sincere, the issue, while allegedly caused by a misunderstanding, has now given gamers a bad impression of "Dead Effect 2." Only time will tell if players are willing to overlook this fiasco to give the sequel a chance.

Pospisil ended a prepared statement by saying that BadFly has learned its lesson. The rep also joked that "the guy who wrote that message is being tortured in the basement now."