Bethesda's released a statement regarding its policy on review copies, and we imagine that quite a few games media writers - including ourselves - are currently sitting shaking their heads. The publisher says it won't be sending out pre-release code for any of its upcoming titles until the day before launch.
"With the upcoming launches of Skyrim Special Edition and Dishonored 2, we will continue our policy of sending media review copies one day before release," the statement reads. Bethesda started this trend with DOOM, which initially raised a lot of eyebrows. Fortunately for the publisher, the shooter was a success both critically and commercially.
The post continues: "While we will continue to work with media, streamers, and YouTubers to support their coverage – both before and after release – we want everyone, including those in the media, to experience our games at the same time." Bit of a weird thing to write, though, when you consider that some YouTubers have been playing Skyrim - Special Edition for weeks now.
Needless to say, we're not particularly happy about this. In a perfect world, we'd be bringing you lot reviews well before launch day so that we could help you decide whether the product in question is worth your time and money. That's pretty much the point of a review, after all.
To be fair to Bethesda, it does go on to say: "We also understand that some of you want to read reviews before you make your decision, and if that's the case we encourage you to wait for your favorite reviewers to share their thoughts." We can agree on that point, at least.
What do you make of this? Can you blame publishers for holding back their games, or does it all seem a bit shady to you? Stand up in the comments section below.
[source bethesda.net]
Comments 30
Given all the high profile PS4 disappointments, reviews have become very important. There are only a few developers I'd trust with a preorder (eg from software), so this decision seems bonkers to me.
Not surprising really. Given how much money is spent on developing games in this day and age, making sure that few, if any reviews hit the internet before a game comes out is going to become increasingly common.
Think about it: a handful of negative reviews can do far more damage (potentially) to a games initial sales than dozens of positive ones, as it is likely that they will be the ones most widely circulated amongst gamers.
@learnedorbb Definitely makes sense from a business perspective, no doubt about that. But at the same time, this is essentially publishers controlling the flow of information from the media. Question is, how far will that eventually go if this sort of thing is considered the start?
That's a shame. There are some copies in the wild though, you can watch them on Twitch on PS4. (And Youtube as you mentioned..) Looks like it runs pretty well. I do intend on getting it on Friday as I want to play it in the evening..
Meh, I don't think this affects me very much. If I'm unsure about a game, I'll wait for a few reviews to be out. Whether that's on day one or day ten, I couldn't care less, I can wait. If it's something I can't wait, and I was gonna buy anyway, reviews wouldn't dissuade me anyway.
@kyleforrester87 Yeah, it's funny how the streamers got it and the media didn't...
But what happens if one of there games has some sort of "pre-order bonus"?!, I'd have to buy the game before I had chance to read/watched reviews.
It doesn't really bother me. In this day in age there is enough info out there to not have to have a review. You just have to do a little research.
But if I don't preorder I won't get a PS4 theme I'll never use or a cool in-game hat that literally everyone will be wearing for the first three weeks after launch!
One more developer to add to my "demo on steam" list. I also added 2K and Hello Games this month as well.
Fine. I'll now stand on record and say I'll not buy any of their games until that policy is reversed. Hopefully others are saying the same.
@feral1975 Yeah. I can do that. Won't be too hard after the bland mess of a game that Fallout 4 was, anyway. They've lost my trust.
Yeah well it's their loss! Reviews have no bearing on how much a product sells, so it makes no sense to hold it back, unless they think they have an absolute stinker on their hands. Which is probably not the case. Dumbfounded.
@BowTiesAreCool no bearing you say?
Another good reason to wait for a Goty edition, especially because Dishonored 2 will surely have dlc. BTW, why on heart is people still preordering videogames? It's like marrying someone you only know through her/his facebook profile...
Not rushing into buying either, so not too fussed. I don't preorder, but can be a sucker for those Day 1 editions.
@kyleforrester87 there's no real correlation between good/bad reviews and high/low sales. I'm not saying there aren't a few people who trust their fave reviewers if they are on the fence about something, but in any entertainment medium reviews in general have little to no impact (fifa/pes, infinite warfare, suicide squad, fifty bloody shades books and films etc etc) I read every review on here because I like the site and the writers, and while I've never been swayed by something I had no real interest in, in terms of Skyrim and Titan fall I wouldn't worry about it! EA have been doing this kind of thing with reviewers for a while now.
@BowTiesAreCool I agree for some franchises such as FIFA/Cod etc they will almost sell regardless as people ultimately know what they are going to get. But I don't agree that's the case with smaller titles like Bethesdas own Evil Within. Ultimately it must make a difference otherwise they wouldn't hold back review copies.
Personally I don't care much either way but there is clearly a motivation for them to do so and if it isn't to control prerelease opinion more fully in an effort to increase sales I'm not sure what it is.
I wonder what early reviews of NMS would have done to sales numbers?
@kyleforrester87 well yeah any new horror IP from Resident Evil people will always do well (and I will admit I'd only ever play that in the daytime if I could). They are definitely a closer indication of quality than success (looking at you Michael Bay > )
I agree it's confusing. Titanfall's demo had a pretty good response and surely the game is more of the same?
Frankly, it's a pathetic move. For all the crap EA, MS and Activision get, they do let reviewers put out reviews well before a game comes out. Even the mediocre ReCore had reviews before it hit store shelves. Sony's big games usually get some reviews before release and I think I've seen it for some Nintendo games as well.
In Bethesda's case, I wonder if it's sites like Kotaku that have made them take a stance like this, especially considering the whole Fallout 4 thing. Let's face it, the quality of gaming journalism is not in a great place overall right now. Though the reasoning behind this is just a guess.
Bear in mind, I'm writing this here - a good site!
I think that - while it annoys me on some level because I know how much it sucks trying to get a review done sometimes and the early copies help - it's their property, and they can do what they like with it. I'd just prefer they weren't giving us the nonsense, "Oh we just want everyone to play together!" excuse.
Give over.
@Churchy Lets be honest they released a lot of broken games almost all of them. Yes im talking about the Fallout series all where broken. The last Fallout game where they take out the mist because they can't make the game run decent. Older versions of Fallout where even more broken. Skyrim where the even saves broke the game walking in water. So if someone needs to be suspicious it should be the gamers.
My copy of Skyrim has already shipped. If it turns out to be as crippling as the PS3 version after so many tens of hours then I only have myself to blame.
@Churchy Bethesda blacklisted kotaku a long time ago after their fallout 4 leak, i doubt it's from that. I visited kotaku for a month after fallout 4 released, and it was hipster nonsense, terrible jokes, and literally an article or two every day praising fallout 4. Needless to say, Bethesda wrote them off a long time ago.
I mean, unless they are still working on a day 1 patch... I don't understand why they'd wait to send out review copies. It could only hurt consumers like me who don't know much about the Dishonored series.. I'll miss out on all the pre-launch hype and it will just get lost in the back of my mind while I play other games releasing at a similar time.
I couldn't tell you how many times I pre-ordered a game (that I wasn't already interested in) after reading a review.
I stopped buying Bethesda games Day 1 after Skyrim on PS3. They make great games but they're bug riddled & for some reason get a pass from media & gamers alike.
I'm going to wait at least 6 months before I go anywhere near Skyrim special edition & Dishonered 2.
At least Skyrim and Dishonered 2 will highly likely be good.
@Napples Aha, I see. Thanks for the info on that one. I guess it was the fact that YouTubers got copies that made me think that way. The fact that Kotaku praised it is hilarious, and I'm glad Bethesda has written them off. I think I should do the same!
@Flaming_Kaiser I would agree that Bethesda's games are shaky (but they are fun at least!) but I was playing devil's advocate a little, as I thought it might be part of a bigger picture. But Napples has cleared that up so it's probably for a few different reasons. It's a shame with all of this because Bethesda have great ideas and clearly a lot of passion, but the technical aspects just don't come off.
Definitely shady, but this entire generation seems to be one shady move after another. Until people wake up and stop pre-ordering this kind of thing will continue. Personally I'll wait for reviews, but after a week a lot of the hype dies down anyway so it will be easier to wait for game of the year editions with this. I hope reviewers start being truly critical again though and call out companies on practices like microtransactions and still buggy day one patches.
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