Do triple A companies intimidate or pressure journalists for good reviews?

[Biglog]

It's much more corporate and subtle than intimidation. It isn't the mafia. The issue up until recent years was that PC gaming magazines all had the same business model, where they relied on magazine advertising dollars for most of their revenue. So game devs would play the game of bad review = less or no advertising dollars. A few magazines tried to follow a different model of honest reviews no matter what and just rely on subscription revenue (and they were great, if a game was bad they would absolutely rip them apart), but eventually they and almost all gaming magazines failed.

Today the business model is nearly the same, it's just replaced magazine advertising with early access to review games as the carrot on a stick for reviewers to not be too harsh. Be too negative, and you might not get early access next time. And since game review vtubers/bloggers rely on views, and late reviews won't get nearly as many views/clicks, it's an effective (ahem) "incentive" for reviewers to not be too hard on a game.

Also, PC hardware reviewers often get the same treatment. There have been PC overclocking and hardware review websites that lost early access to hardware from a major cpu manufacturer after reviews that weren't positive enough. In another case, they simply hired him and shut down the website. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess.

[Edge-]

Today the business model is nearly the same, it's just replaced magazine advertising with early access to review games as the carrot on a stick for reviewers to not be too harsh. Be too negative, and you might not get early access next time.

This is straight up untrue. Has everyone missed the major games recently shat on or anything? There is little to no benefit to a publisher to being dicks to media because they made a bad game. Everyone are professionals, 99% of the time they ship a shit game they know it's a shit game and their personal feelings aren't hurt.

People conflate reviews with like, the most important part of gaming media. It's a fraction of what they do. The majority of what they do is regurgitate press releases every day, with some able to flex their unused writing diplomas for bigger features sometimes and shit. Reviews are a tiny portion of this.

[shane brannigan]

The real question is do they even need to intimidate/ pressure journalists anymore.

nobody cares what corporate reviewers have to say anymore, and the few people that do give accurate reviews get access revoked.
on top of that most of the reviews that come out get policed by industry discords milling out the talking points for everyone so they're naturally homogenised since they're written by committee.

[Tech614]

nobody cares what corporate reviewers have to say anymore

Complete made up fan fiction in your head. The NPD guy has spoken multiple times about how high review scores lead to increased last minute preorders and week 1 sales. This is some hard cope the "gamers"(as in annoying internet gamers making up complete bullshit about the industry they have no idea about) have. Elden Ring doesn't sell 20 million copies if it was sitting at an 88 on metacritic, it would of barely out sold previous from software games if not for it reviewing as a complete spectacle.

[shane brannigan]

Complete made up fan fiction in your head. The NPD guy has spoken multiple times about how high review scores lead to increased last minute preorders and week 1 sales. This is some hard cope the "gamers"(as in annoying internet gamers making up complete bullshit about the industry they have no idea about) have. Elden Ring doesn't sell 20 million copies if it was sitting at an 88 on metacritic, it would of barely out sold previous from software games if not for it reviewing as a complete spectacle.

see your statement. that's actual cope. It's mainstream to accept that reviews are dishonest crap these days. Probably because of all the movies getting 80's when they're 30's. And as for Elden ring, fromsoft doesn't need the reviews. Elden ring sold itself by existing, Dark soul's but open world was going to get game of the year regardless of reviews. And if you don't believe a bunch of people with no passion for the medium they review wouldn't set up a discord so they can coast like a failing college student. you're delusional. And as for last minute pre-orders in reality they're more influenced by pre-order bonuses disappearing rather than I dunno Kotaku. That being said I will give you reviews might probably influence children given they have a reduced amount of lived experience to reference.

But hey I got no idea who this NPD guy, but it's not as if people haven't falsified data before to inflate something's value.

[Tech614]

And as for Elden ring, fromsoft doesn't need the reviews.

Another gamer ass take from a trade mark "gamer".

Look up the sales of every other Souls game then look at Elden Ring and get back to me about how much you think from software was a house hold name with average real world gamers outside of your completely delusional internet bubble. Every Souls game reviewed well from them, but only Elden Ring reviewed as a game of the generation type. The difference in sales was clear from the get go.

Zelda known to famously be hard capped at 8 million sales per entry at best usually, but wait BoTW pops a 98 on metacritic with early reviews and suddenly it's a 20+ million seller.

Keep coping that reviews don't matter. They matter a hell of a lot for single player games with early embargo lifts.

The npd guy is Mat Piscatella, what would he know though he only analyzes sales data for a living. I'm sure gamer bubble types like yourself are much more knowledgeable on what actually matters to the industry. Poor gaming media doesn't matter anymore one might wonder how they're able to exist and not close up shop with how much they don't matter anymore! These takes are beyond hysterical.

[shane brannigan]

Another gamer ass take from a trade mark "gamer".

Look up the sales of every other Souls game then look at Elden Ring and get back to me about how much you think from software was a house hold name with average real world gamers outside of your completely delusional internet bubble. Every Souls game reviewed well from them, but only Elden Ring reviewed as a game of the generation type. The difference in sales was clear from the get go.

Zelda known to famously be hard capped at 8 million sales per entry at best usually, but wait BoTW pops a 98 on metacritic with early reviews and suddenly it's a 20+ million seller.

Keep coping that reviews don't matter. They matter a hell of a lot for single player games with early embargo lifts.

yeah, that's more to do with gaming's massive growth over the last decade rather than reviews. nobody respects reviews/scores anymore.
It's almost as if having a larger market translates in to more sales on popular things.

Dare I say DSP's pre stream "massage" did more for nioh than the reviews.

[sam86]

well we did have something like that, but if u caught 1 man stealing, that doesn't mean every human steal, do u steal?
it is easily however to intimidate anyone when u are big enough, imagine ea using words like they think that game reviewers get their games early only to shit on them, that's a clear hint that if they continue shitting they won't get games, meaning that gamers won't find them review games when they need and stop following them

but honestly beside microsoft confirmed bribe to youtube (or was it twitch? can't remember), proof of something like that happened again is none as far i know

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Another gamer ass take from a trade mark "gamer".

Look up the sales of every other Souls game then look at Elden Ring and get back to me about how much you think from software was a house hold name with average real world gamers outside of your completely delusional internet bubble. Every Souls game reviewed well from them, but only Elden Ring reviewed as a game of the generation type. The difference in sales was clear from the get go.

Zelda known to famously be hard capped at 8 million sales per entry at best usually, but wait BoTW pops a 98 on metacritic with early reviews and suddenly it's a 20+ million seller.

Keep coping that reviews don't matter. They matter a hell of a lot for single player games with early embargo lifts.

The npd guy is Mat Piscatella, what would he know though he only analyzes sales data for a living. I'm sure gamer bubble types like yourself are much more knowledgeable on what actually matters to the industry. Poor gaming media doesn't matter anymore one might wonder how they're able to exist and not close up shop with how much they don't matter anymore! These takes are beyond hysterical.

how many costumers now for games
in early 90s if a game sell 1 million copy its a miracle, unheard of, check wrath, it has only 12 million sub at peak, yet that number -back then - was like 4 times higher than 2nd closet number, now lol has daily active player in almost 100 million
first RE2 sold 2+ million and was considered immense unheard level of success, heck wow classic at launch even blizz developers didn't expect it to cross 500k, and it passed millions from first year

tldr: Demon Soul sales are amazing for its time, even if it is a joke now

[Tech614]

Demon Soul sales are amazing for its time, even if it is a joke now

Demon's Souls literally got a ground up remake 2 years ago and it's sale are merely good, not amazing. Hysterical gamer takes one after another.

The original Demon's Souls was a complete flop in Japan and Sony wasn't even going to release it in the west. Atlus USA bought the rights to release it in NA and Bandai Namco bought the rights to release it in EU. If not for that you wouldn't even know it exists. It's own, original owner/publisher gave up on the game so hilarious take to say it had amazing sales.

Acting like the market somehow tripled in size between Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring to account for the absolute monster gap in sales was a hilarious try, good laugh my dude.

[shane brannigan]

Demon's Souls literally got a ground up remake 2 years ago and it's sale are merely good, not amazing. Hysterical gamer takes one after another.

The original Demon's Souls was a complete flop in Japan and Sony wasn't even going to release it in the west. Atlus USA bought the rights to release it in NA and Bandai Namco bought the rights to release it in EU. If not for that you wouldn't even know it exists. It's own, original owner/publisher gave up on the game so hilarious take to say it had amazing sales.

Acting like the market somehow tripled in size between Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring to account for the absolute monster gap in sales was a hilarious try, good laugh my dude.

it kind of did tho. gen-z kinda grew up. got jobs, and were able to spend their own money in that time.
you're just living in a boomer world dependent of data gather from perception, to defend a corpse of an industry. Tiktok for example, those videos with the AI voice 100% influence sales more than meta critic scores. Because it looks fun and is relatable.

[Edge-]

nobody cares what corporate reviewers

What the hell is a "corporate reviewer"? Y'all realize most reviews are done by freelancers who get paid sub-minimum wage for the time they put in playing the game and writing their review, right? That review editors aren't exactly living large given that nobody in editorial is making the big bux, period?

Where this unearned confidence in this knowledge comes from I'll never know.

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Tiktok for example, those videos with the AI voice 100% influence sales more than meta critic scores. Because it looks fun and is relatable.

Again, this is my professional wheelhouse. There's a discussion to be had over the influence review scores play vs. influencer content, and each type of content appeals to, but your statement is pure fiction.

[shane brannigan]

What the hell is a "corporate reviewer"? Y'all realize most reviews are done by freelancers who get paid sub-minimum wage for the time they put in playing the game and writing their review, right? That review editors aren't exactly living large given that nobody in editorial is making the big bux, period?

Where this unearned confidence in this knowledge comes from I'll never know.

yes this is exactly what I meant by "corporate", people getting paid peanuts to mill out content for "Gaming media sites".
I was referring to them as means of Othering journalists like Filip Miucin.

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Again, this is my professional wheelhouse. There's a discussion to be had over the influence review scores play vs. influencer content, and each type of content appeals to, but your statement is pure fiction.

I don't think it's a question if influencers have more of an affect than reviews, influence lead marketing initiatives alone prove there's more good will and faith to be had with influencers. where as trust in print media is at an all time low. and it's not fiction that short tiktok exposure to products have positive influence on sales.

[Aliven]

I believe companies try to bribe lesser knowns youtubers, especially the ones which have build their identity about some particular game, like Division 2 for example.

I dont believe they try to bribe big names like AngryJoe, ActMan etc. They are already milionaires. And game journalism sites like IGN, GamingBolt etc are free press for them with their gigantic waves they create.
I dont believe any studio has the money to bribe them, because actually showing this would make even better money for those sites. Imagine IGN making piece about Ubisoft offering paid reviews. Ubi would implode even faster.

[Deus Mortis]

Nah nowadays it would be too easy to be caught and no one would want to be caught being a paid shill and forever ruin your websites reputation. What you will find more often is just reviewers giving bad scores because they suck at video games *cough* Dan Stapleton(bloodborne review(his personal review was not the sites actual review of the game)). The memes and laughs I got from IGN back then were great.

[Edge-]

I don't think it's a question if influencers have more of an affect than reviews, influence lead marketing initiatives alone prove there's more good will and faith to be had with influencers.

Now we're getting to a discussion of strategy. Some games may lend themselves to influencer-led campaigns, others won't. If you're paying for it, which is the usually case, considerably less so than if you get them to stream the game for free. And getting them to stream for free is hard, because they're getting lots of offers to stream for money and it needs them to be interested in the game in some capacity.

where as trust in print media is at an all time low.

Citation needed*

and it's not fiction that short tiktok exposure to products have positive influence on sales.

Sure. Same goes for Twitter. Or YouTube. Or Twitch. Or Facebook. What's hilarious is that the likelyhood of them being paid to promote the shit they're promoting or failing to clearly disclose their payment is higher with randos on social media than it is with actual media outlets, to boot.

I'm fully aware of how effective it can be, but also that a large reason why is the rapid decay of media literacy on the part of a lot of consumers.

[Ghost of Cow]

I'd be hard-pressed to believe that - like literally any other area of life - some level of influence or incentive isn't in play when money is involved. It's that way with everything in life.

Is it literally, "Give us a good review or you're canned?" probably not. But don't sit there and tell me that somehow "gaming journalism" is a special, sparkly, unique unicorn in the world that's free of any of the same influences that creep into everything that has money behind it.

[shane brannigan]

Citation needed*

https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox...ow-trust-media
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carliep...ws-poll-finds/
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-ga...f-its-audience
https://lordsofgaming.net/2019/03/th...ng-journalism/
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=...0trust&f=false
https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/...cle/view/36638
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/...6.2021.1873167
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10...031-11976-7_19
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=...damage&f=false

you can read these if you want. night ya'll

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[Edge-]

https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox...ow-trust-media
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carliep...ws-poll-finds/
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-ga...f-its-audience
https://lordsofgaming.net/2019/03/th...ng-journalism/
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=...0trust&f=false
https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/...cle/view/36638
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/...6.2021.1873167
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10...031-11976-7_19
https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=...damage&f=false

you can read these if you want. night ya'll

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More broadly yes, it's a fairly complex issue that I guess is relevant but is fairly off topic for the VG forums itself. I should have said more in regards to gaming media (what little print media there is left), as the few remaining ones like Game Informer are generally fairly well regarded. Peoples separate paranoia and media illiteracy driving mistrust - as we're seeing in this thread - is a very personal "them" problem rather than an actual problem with media.

[shane brannigan]

More broadly yes, it's a fairly complex issue that I guess is relevant but is fairly off topic for the VG forums itself. I should have said more in regards to gaming media (what little print media there is left), as the few remaining ones like Game Informer are generally fairly well regarded. Peoples separate paranoia and media illiteracy driving mistrust - as we're seeing in this thread - is a very personal "them" problem rather than an actual problem with media.

yea yea yea deflection cool night.

[AwkwardSquirtle]

This is one of the larger unsolved mysteries of the average "gamer." Just supreme confidence in things they know next to nothing about.

Not an unsolved mystery. It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect.