Ubisoft has come out with why it will not distribute review copies of its open world driving game The Crew prior to its release date.
The game can only be fully assessed when it’s live, Ubisoft has said, as servers are populated by the players. They have however assured that there would be no coverage embargoes in place either.
Something that became somewhat of an issue with Assassins Creed Unity.
Ubisoft was criticized for requesting an embargo on Unity, which would only be lifted once the game was released world-wide. The editor of one publication, Kotaku, said in response to the situation that he would no longer agree to post-release review embargoes.
It’s a tricky situation that could in many ways make things harder for publications. Don’t comply and you might be met with restricted access to breaking news and product information. However if you somehow still have this access (through perhaps, a leak in the company) it very may work in your favour.
In any case, Ubisoft says this is the reason why there are no early copies of the game.
“The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it’s only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world,” taken from the publishers blog.
“For this very reason, The Crew will be available to media to begin their reviews when the game launches on December 2. There will be absolutely no embargo on any type of coverage once the game is available for sale.”
Ubisoft has since added: “While we fully anticipate that you might see some reviews immediately at launch–largely built around the preview sessions we facilitated during the past months or the limited content of the closed and open betas–they won’t be based on optimal conditions or reflect the finished game.”
A PlayStation 4 and Xbox One open beta for The Crew will comence November 25 and 27.
This open beta represents “the last chance to drive the roads of the United States ahead of the worldwide launch on December 2.”
It’s almost here folks, and I don’t usually get excited for driving games but since Forza Horizon 2 I’ve come to anticipate some more open world driving mayhem.