On the official blog, the developer studio Bethesda Softworks announced that no review copies of new games will be sent out before their release.
This affects print magazines as well as websites and YouTubers. Only one day before release will a review copy be sent out. The company wants to ensure that all media receive the review copy at the same time and can start testing simultaneously. This was already done with the shooter Doom, which was released in May of this year.
No review copies before the release of the game
Many gamers believed at the time that Bethesda was not confident in the quality of the game and wanted to sell many copies of the game before the poor reviews came out. But in the end, Doom turned out to be a very good shooter. All upcoming games from Bethesda will therefore only be sent out one day before release. Anyone who tends to read reviews before making a purchase decision is advised by Bethesda to wait until these reviews are published before buying a new game. However, pre- and post-reporting will still be supported.
Bethesda is now a publisher that focuses more on single-player games. The next two games that the company will release are the remastered version of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim on October 28 and the action-adventure Dishonored 2: The Legacy of the Mask on November 11. However, Bethesda also published the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, developed by Zenimax. How will this new system affect any future MMOs?
Reviews of MMORPGs might need to change
For a thorough review of an MMORPG, one usually needs a lot of time. One doesn’t want to just show players something from the beginning; the endgame content is particularly important for many fans. Additionally, different classes play differently, there are various builds per class, and many aspects of the game can be approached in different ways. Generally, testing an MMORPG is a challenging endeavor.
If a new MMORPG only arrives with the reviewers at release, it may take quite a while for the review to appear. During this time, players are left in the dark, eager to know whether the purchase would be worth it. Reviews may need to change. Regular, ideally daily, updates and impressions that can be summarized into a well-founded opinion after a few weeks. However, print magazines cannot deliver this. Reviews are likely to appear significantly later after the release of a new game in the future.
It will be interesting to see whether other publishers and development studios will follow Bethesda’s example…
