Starfield: Bethesda Skipped Review Codes For Multiple Outlets

Expert Verified By

Reviews From Various Outlets Will Be Late!

Bethesda sent the Starfield review codes to multiple outlets almost two weeks ago, and since the review embargo is scheduled to be lifted tomorrow, fans are excited to hear what the critics have to say.

However, Bethesda has acted quite oddly while dispersing the Starfield review codes, skipping over a number of major outlets.

Why it matters: Starfield is a massive game that has garnered attention from the entire industry, making it odd that Bethesda did not provide review codes to so many outlets.

With less than two full days left before the review embargo, outlets like Eurogamer have come forward to inform viewers that the Starfield review will be released later than usual.

This was followed by other outlets like MetroRock Paper Shotgun, Axios, and Guardian coming forward with a similar story.

Of these outlets, Eurogamer’s situation stood out as the most odd.

Digital Foundry, a Eurogamer partner who also publishes stories on the website, was given a review code and specifically instructed not to share it with anyone else at Eurogamer.

The outlet received a review code shortly after they wrote about it yesterday, and Rock Paper Shotgun has also been promised a review code. However, this still means that such outlets will be unable to publish reviews immediately after the embargo.

This situation has caused confusion among fans and critics. Metro, however, noticed a pattern and stated:

“Most US sites do seem to have review copies and it is specifically the UK that has been denied them.”

This may suggest a management issue from Bethesda in the UK, leading to the current situation.

However, SkillUp, an Australian YouTuber and reviewer, reportedly did not obtain a review code for Starfield either. Some have claimed that this is because SkillUp was too harsh with his criticisms for Fallout 76, but this is just speculation for now.

The situation has led to speculation that Bethesda is frightened of receiving a poor review from critics and cherry-picked critics that would give the game impressive scores like 8 and 9/10.

But there is little reason to believe this was the case since Bethesda has provided a plethora of review codes outside the UK. 

In addition to the review code fiasco, the past two weeks have been wildly unpredictable for Starfield as numerous leaks about the game have appeared online.

A lot of information has come forward from those leaks, including details about PC performance and gameplay mechanics. However, the wait for the game is nearly over.

Following the reviews tomorrow, Starfield will be available to play for early-access users on September 1.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Black Ops 7 Beta Struggles on Steam – Player Count Nearly 5x Lower Than Battlefield 6 Beta

According to SteamDB, Black Ops 7 beta player count only topped at about 100K players, compared to Battlefield 6 beta's over 500K.

Activision Claims 97% Of Black Ops 7 Cheaters Are Banned Within 30 Minutes

97% of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 cheaters were banned within 30 minutes of signing in, while only 1% made it into the game.

Silent Hill 3 Remake Reportedly Coming in 2028 as Bloober Team Works on Resident Evil-Inspired New IP

Bloober Team is rumored to be working on a Silent Hill 3 remake and a new Resident Evil-inspired IP, with releases expected in 2026 and 2028.

Battlefield 6: EA Promises 120 FPS Performance on Consoles and Free DLC Support

Battlefield 6 to support 120FPS, and alongside, EA to give out a free DLC titled 'Covert Operations' during Season 1.

Microsoft Reportedly Scrapped Its Xbox Handheld After AMD’s Shocking Demands

A new report reveals that the first-party Xbox handheld was cancelled because AMD demanded 10 million sales to develop a custom SoC.