This week sees the release of a major AAA Xbox 360 title, Fable III. The Lionhead poster game has been the focus of some positive previews, comes from a well respected studio and is probably the Xbox 360’s big exclusive for the remainder of the year. Hopes are high, but you’ll have noticed there’s no reviews for the game yet – and that’s because reviews of the Microsoft published title are embargoed until 5am BST Tuesday, the day of release. *
What does that mean, though? Well, put simply it means that sites like ours can’t give the game a score until the embargo date and time expires, although we can do previews and talk about it. This, as you may have heard recently in connection with a number of other titles, isn’t uncommon – almost every publisher enforces these restrictions on their big games and for a number of different reasons which we’ll cover in this blog.
The first reason that publishers lock down reviews until the game is out is that they know the game isn’t particularly strong: this isn’t the case with Fable III (our review is locked and loaded in our queue ready for publication and I’ve read it) but it is the case with some other games we’ve come across over the years. I’m not going to name any particular ones as it doesn’t really matter for this article, but it’s safe to say that on occasion reviews are held back as a wave of negative ones could damage sales.
Likewise, though, there are positive reasons for a game’s reviews to be embargoed: when a game’s embargo is up every site that’s reviewing it will ‘go live’ simultaneously, immediately creating a diluge of free press and much discussion about it. The game will get its 15 minutes of fame, plastered all over every gaming website and news aggregator across the world – you won’t be able to miss it.
In addition, it’s not unrealistic to acknowledge that if there’re two big games out in a single week, especially from different publishers or on different platforms, the embargo date is a delicate juggling act for the PR companies in charge: which goes first, or do you blast them both at the same time to do battle for column inches? And remember that embargo dates and times can change right up to the last minute.
Also, in relation to embargoed reviews, there’s the phenomenon of the ‘early’ review: this is when a website or publication gets exclusive rights to ‘go before’ everyone else, be that for a week, a day or an hour. Take Medal of Honor, for example, which saw Computer and Video Games publish their review a day ‘early’ and Eurogamer go a few hours later. Naturally I’ve no idea of the circumstances, but CVG’s review was the top story on N4G (a popular news aggregator) for the day which means that there’s lots of traffic at stake.
And then there’s mistakes – something I’ve seen a bit of over the years. Quite how a website’s server clock can confuse BST and GMT on a regular basis makes me wonder how the guys in charge manage to tie their own shoelaces in a morning, but it happens, often meaning that whilst our scheduler keeps our stories in check until they’re meant to go live, these timing accidents often give other sites the chance to push their stories out an hour early.
It’s not always about reviews though. About three weeks before the world knew about the latest MotorStorm game I was invited, along with representatives from other sites, to attend a press event in London which would serve as the game’s first outing. We were given the name, the chance to ask questions and a single track to demo at our leisure. Thankfully, and presumably because the attendees in this case could be trusted, any leaks of the game came from other sources – most gamers didn’t even know the name until the embargo was up. In this case: instant mass excitement over a brand new game.
But what happens if you break an embargo? Well, it depends on the situation. Sometimes you’ll get an angry ‘phone call, sometimes you’ll be asked to take down whatever it is you’ve put up and sometimes you’ll be breaking an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and could be responsible for the costs of the publisher and PR company having to fix your mistakes, which obviously isn’t ideal. Sometimes it’s even illegal to do so.
Worst of all, for sites like TheSixthAxis at least, is that any embargo breaking will be the end of your relationship with the company in question. Thankfully PR agencies, publishers (and indeed developers, who we have lots of behind the scenes dealings with) know they can trust us and know that we don’t break embargoes. Sure, we’ll get angry and moan about it when others do, but we try to stick to our principles wherever possible. You certainly won’t find us pushing something out and then changing the publication date…
Now then, Fable III eh?
* The embargo in this particular case relates to the release of the US version of the game, but the embargo holds worldwide.
This blog is the personal opinion of the author.
Severn2j
I think its a damn shame that publishers have the power to dictate embargoes to websites like this.. Whether it’s generating hype or delaying bad reviews, the only one who benefits here is the publisher, not the consumer. If every gaming site decided not to recognise anymore embargoes, the publishers would just have to lump it because they need the sites just as much as you need them. Of course it would take a pretty big player to take a stand like that, although if the rumours are correct, they’re all in the publishers pocket anyway…
Kevling
This comment was embargoed for another hour but my iPhone messed it up.
Interesting article though, Nofi, enjoyed it. Pity about the naming and shaming though ;)
stueeeee
Well u learn something new everyday! I had no idea this was the norm and publishers had so much power over reviewers. I thought if it was under special circumstances/requests (MGS4 for example) Very good way to manipulate sales especially if its not a good game.
Thank you for informing me!
bigdon23
i never knew such things existed. i have been enlightened. question: what about magazines where these types of things are printed in advance
seedaripper1973
I don’t mean to sound like a sycophant here, but i always look forward to nofi’s articles over the other bloggers, mainly due to the writing. I suppose it’s why i’ve been a member since the beginning, when it was literaly nofi and Micheal..love TSA everyday!
*no offence to the other contributors – as i think your great also*
mcduff1979
the fable series of games are amazing to play … was the only reason i had an xbox 360, tho money got tight and had to sell console and games. shame really as i loved playing them. maybe ill pick up a new 360 and fable 3 for xmas
Armonster9000
I’m so excited for this game
I’m glad TSA told us when the embargo would be lifted. Other sites don’t do that for some reason….
I also like how they tell us when their reviews should be going up.
Thanks TSA!
DJ-Katy
Here’s what I think about embargoes: it’s censorship of freedom of speech for the sake of profit. And as such, it needs to be stopped.
I very much doubt this happens when a new CD or movie is released. What should happen is that all gaming web sites and publications should make a mutual agreement to ignore all embargoes, then there will be no damage to any relationships. Publishers should not have the power to frighten legitimate journalists into having it dictated to them when and where they can post their opinion on a commercial product.
Tuffcub
Both movie and CD reviews get embargoed.
DJ-Katy
Then they’re certainly not respected. My first sentence holds.
Grey_Ghost13
Great article. I don’t think you have to worry about breaking an embargo on this site as none of us bother reading the other games sites, I wait for TSA’s verdict. But it is anoying to not know how good a game is before we buy. With the cost of games you need to make a decision before you fork out the cash and embargo’s can hold this up. Yeah you could wait and not buy the game, but who doesn’t want to buy games on day 1. Getting rid of embargos could limit pre-owned sales, well only slightly, as there have been times when I have waited to find out how good a game actually is before buying, and at that time the markets allready flooded with cheap pre-owned versions. Is it me or has anybody else started to spot pre-owned titles the day after release?
Roynaldo
Ive always wondered the point behind embargoes. I felt a little daft for not knowing and even more so now the points are so easy to see.
Thanks for the info nofi.