Why early reviews of video games are getting rarer and rarer

Enlarge / As far as early reviews of Dishonored 2 are concerned, the press' collective mouths will be as covered up as this protagonist's.

Not so long ago, you could be relatively sure that, if a publisher withheld early review copies from members of the press, it was probably because the publisher knew the game was a stinker that would get panned. Now, some of the biggest game makers are withholding early review copies as a matter of course, regardless of expected quality.

At least one of those publishers is being unusually upfront about communicating its policy. In a blog post Tuesday evening, Bethesda Softworks Global Content Lead Gary Steinman writes that "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." For massive games like these, that one-day lead time might as well be nonexistent, from the standpoint of putting together a review in time for launch.

The closest thing Bethesda offers to a reason for this policy is that the company "want[s] everyone, including those in the media, to experience our games at the same time." That justification is a little hard to swallow, considering that Bethesda sent an enthusiastic streamer a copy of Skyrim Special Edition a full month before its release. Apparently, "everyone [playing] at the same time" doesn't include YouTubers that Bethesda can be relatively sure will react with pants-wetting excitement to special, early access to its game.