This strange, disdainful decision was slammed by critics when Bethesda announced it last fall, but the publisher has maintained its policy nonetheless. This makes Bethesda an anomaly. Traditionally, game publishers will send out review copies to press one to two weeks in advance, often with a review embargo of a specific time and date on which critics can post their thoughts. This allows everyone to stay on the same page. A critic at IGN doesnt have to worry about being scooped by a critic at GameSnacksWeekly because theyve both agreed to the same embargo. The timeframe may be tight, depending when review copies hit, but nobody has to rush to be first on the web.
Yesterday, for example, we received a copy of Fire Emblem Echoes from Nintendo, giving us a solid 11 days to play through the game before it comes out, on May 19. Atlus, god bless them, sent us codes for Persona 5 nearly two months before it launched. Although publishers like Activision havent typically offered early reviewer access to online-only games like Destiny, and once in a while a publisher will send out codes late, those are the extraordinary cases. Most publishers are happy to give out early codes for their single-player games, with rare exceptions (like 2K Games).
