Simply put, we don't need to make puppet accounts to gather positive reviews to gain interest in our games or to 'build a portfolio'. We already have hundreds of positive reviews on our Steam games alone, and the reviews on itch.io speak for themselves. We're a studio that prides ourselves on our undying commitment to ethical development - both in community building and in how we treat our members. Puppet accounts serve no purpose to us, and would actively damage our own goals - both to our average member and to the community at large.
If anything, the first thought shouldn't be 'the devs are making false reviews', the first thought should be 'maybe this person is new to the EVN community, or they are a dev's friend that wanted to congratulate them on a successful release', or something like that. I don't know the person who reviewed us, and while I deeply appreciate the words they've given us, I don't believe there's any Machiavellian plans going on in the background here.
Something like that would only serve to hurt us. We've been around for four years with seven game releases, multiple talks on game development and ethics, and are an incorporated company - we don't need to prop ourselves up with false reviews. Our dedication speaks for itself here.
Wolf, Watercress Studio Director