Recently Eurogamer posted an article where they mention that they have not received a review code for Bethesda's upcoming game Starfield ahead of its embargo date. It notes that as of two days before the embargo, Eurogamer still had not received a copy of the game from Bethesda to review.
The author states that while publishers are under no obligation to provide games to outlets for review, it is important for Eurogamer to be transparent with its readers about any delays this may cause to their Starfield coverage. It appears access to the game has been heavily restricted in the UK, where Bethesda did not provide copies to other Eurogamer/Reedpop owned websites and YouTube channels. Meanwhile, some other UK outlets did receive review code through Bethesda's US arm.
The author says they have spent hours over the past two weeks discussing the issue with Bethesda since review code was made available to other outlets, flagging it to Bethesda and Microsoft executives. Eurogamer was told they would eventually receive a copy but it would be too late for them to complete their review at the same time as other outlets this week given the size of the RPG.
This delay in receiving a code means Eurogamer's review and score will join the critical consensus later, after outlets initially selected by Bethesda. However, the author assures readers Eurogamer's review will be published as soon as possible once they have enough time with the game. Their guides coverage will also be later than hoped.
A note is made that Digital Foundry, Eurogamer's technical analysis team, did receive Starfield code separately with instruction it not be shared with other Eurogamer teams. Late review codes are not uncommon, but such a delay behind many other outlets for a game of Starfield's prominence is described as "extremely unusual." Eurogamer looks forward to playing and covering Starfield thoroughly once access is granted.
Why did this happen? Is Bethesda scared from outlets that haven't been so much on Xbox's side lately? We might learn more in the future, but until then, we at Duuro are just super excited to play Starfield.
