Shenmue 3 Reviews Might Be a Bit Late
Update #2 (11/18/2019): The review embargo has reportedly been moved to November 19th, reports VGC. Deep Silver reportedly said that the previous embargo announcement was a “miscommunication”.
Update #1 (11/16/2019, 2:58 PM EST): A Deep Silver PR manager has said that the publisher has “determined a different embargo” for the US.
Original Story:
Reviews for the long-awaited Shenmue 3 possibly aren’t going to be published by media outlets until November 21st, which is two days after the game’s release on the 19th on PS4 and the Epic Games Store.
This news comes from UK-based VG247 deputy editor Kirk McKeand, who tweeted on Saturday, “Shenmue 3 release date – November 19. Shenmue 3 review embargo – November 21. That’s a new one.”
Review embargoes for a game usually lift either before the game comes out or on the day of release. But, in Shenmue 3’s case, some have speculated that the game’s publisher, Deep Silver, is trying to make sure that it gets into the hands of the public before it’s, presumably, panned by critics.
However, this late review embargo isn’t necessarily a sign of the game being terrible. For example, reviews for EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order weren’t allowed to be published until the night before or the night of launch (depending on your time zone in the US). Even though it had such a late review embargo, the latest Star Wars game was still received pretty well.
That said, those reviews still came out before or on the day of release. In general, not allowing reviewers who’ve received review codes to publish those reviews until several days after the game comes out isn’t exactly positive news.
What’s your opinion of this news? Planning on getting the new Shenmue game? Go ahead and speak your mind in our comments section.