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Many websites and YouTube channels will be unable to review Starfield for several weeks, as Bethesda refuses to send out advanced copies.<\/p>\n
Publishers withholding review copies before launch is not unusual, just as it\u2019s not unheard of for film companies not to show a movie in advance for critics. But there\u2019s usually only one thing that means and everyone, including reviewers and the general public, know it: the game (or film) is no good.<\/p>\n
Despite us having been in contact with Bethesda for several weeks we do not have a review copy yet and have only been promised one \u2018at the end of the month.\u2019 We now suspect that will not be until Thursday, August 31, as we understand the general review embargo is on Thursday at 5pm BST.<\/p>\n
What makes this situation strange though is that most US sites do seem to have review copies and it is specifically the UK that has been denied them. No explanation has been given as to why.<\/p>\n
Eurogamer is in the same position as us and likely every other UK website that does not have a US arm or affiliate. We weren\u2019t certain how widespread the issue was until Eurogamer posted the news on their website, and in doing so it became clear just how oddly Bethesda is behaving. [Update: <\/strong>The Guardian and Edge haven\u2019t been sent copies either.]<\/p>\n Bethesda has always been peculiar with regards to reviews and went through a period, around seven years ago, where they refused to send out review copies to anyone until a day before the game\u2019s release.<\/p>\n There was never any proper explanation for that either, although it was assumed that they simply wanted to avoid the possibility of negative reviews before a game\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n They eventually realised that this was counterproductive and went back to acting normally but since many Bethesda execs have been at the company for decades it\u2019s clear that many resent the idea of allowing advanced reviews and still want to disrupt the practice.<\/p>\n Despite all this, we don\u2019t necessarily think any of this is because Starfield is bad. Although the truth is we\u2019ve seen nothing more of the game than you have, as there\u2019s been almost no hands-on previews anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n However, the majority of the games Bethesda was withholding back in 2016 were very good. Indeed, Bethesda\u2019s track record in terms of quality games is very high, so why they should be so insecure about reviews is a mystery.<\/p>\n They do have a consistent problem with bugs and performance issues, but if that\u2019s true of Starfield it will become obvious the second the game is released \u2013 so preventing reviews from talking about it isn\u2019t going to help anyone.<\/p>\n Starfield is due to launch on September 6 for Xbox Series X\/S but if you pay for one of the more expensive collector\u2019s editions you can get early access on September 1. That\u2019s why the embargo is on Thursday and why we don\u2019t expect to get a copy before that.<\/p>\n Bethesda is free to do whatever they want in regard to allowing early access to previews and reviews but clearly they want people to know as little as possible about the game before the play it or \u2013 more importantly \u2013 before they pay for it.<\/p>\n So, we\u2019re afraid to say we won\u2019t have a review on Thursday and probably not until a week or so after. We may try and do some sort of \u2018our first hour with Starfield\u2019 feature this week but, thanks to Bethesda\u2019s actions, that\u2019s all we can offer.<\/p>\n