one factor not mentioned was that leftists (reddit and resetera) already hate saudi's for not being LGBTQ+ allies.
Ronaldo having rape accusation baggage was something they could latch onto as a proxy for their saudi hate. I like how queer Max Dood had to apologize and grovel at resetera for covering the game.
But I don't want to give them credit, because the game would have failed anyway. But all these little things add up and put normies off a purchase, which was an easy decision. CotW looks like a re-purposed KOF game that they already don't buy hhh.