Pushing Buttons: Bethesda chose not to give us early access to Starfield – and it’s readers who lose out

The studio is far from the first to restrict some critics from their games. But if only influencers and fans get early access, it’s players who suffer most

• Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

The Guardian’s review of space exploration epic Starfield, Xbox’s big game of the year, went live this morning – almost a week after other outlets published theirs. This is because Bethesda did not give our reviewer an advance copy, as publishers usually do. Along with several others, including the greatly respected games publications Eurogamer and Edge, we were left waiting until the game’s early access release last Friday to play it.

Bethesda’s reasons for cherry-picking reviewers are known only to itself, but it’s far from the only publisher to do this. Sometimes, controlling early reviews is a way to manipulate a game’s Metacritic average in the crucial first week of release. This happened earlier in the year with Hogwarts Legacy, when Warner Bros distributed copies to certain outlets long before others; the result was an initial flurry of very positive reviews, with more measured takes appearing around or after the game’s release, once critics had played for longer. When reviewers receive review codes close to a game’s embargo or release date, they are often under pressure to rush, and that can skew their experience.