Geoff Keighley has dropped the news in gaming circles, and the uproar has started immediately. He received the Ghost of Yotei for review extremely early. The embargo will lift on Thursday, September 25, at 9 am ET, which is a month before the actual launch of the game, and I must say that’s quite the wild decision to really think about.
Generally speaking, when review copies get sent this early that far ahead of time, it’s a sign that the publishers really want to put their money on it. They are sure the game is good and want the world to know about it. Or at least this is what most gamers feel. Another respondent, perhaps more straightforwardly, said, “They sent out review copies a whole month prior to release. That’s a pretty strong sign of confidence in the final product,” and honestly, they’re right.
The second perspective has never gone well for a large portion of the internet. What some ask is why Geoff even gets these review copies now since he doesn’t really do reviews anymore? Someone argued, “You don’t review games tho when’s the last time anyone saw a review uploaded by Geoff Keighley.” Well… fair? But Geoff approaches the industry quite differently with The Game Awards and all.
The other half of the community is already dismissing this game as junk that they won’t approach with a ten-foot pole. That is… something. Somebody went as far as saying, “Yotei means kitchen,” thus accusing the game of sexism? Wait, what am I even saying here? Oh right, the usual gamer discourse that’s filled with people getting upset about something before they even get their hands on the game.
All the negativity-have some real hype coming through, people! A couple of the replies were along the lines of, “Have fun!!” and “Thank you Geoff,” which is nice. Not everyone is cynical about everything at all times. Some are just really hyped for a new game from the Ghost of Tsushima developers.
The embargo itself is pretty interesting. It puts the spotlight on 25 September with enough time so that reviewers can really spend some time with the game and get into it before giving out their impressions. I’m really hoping this is not one of those occasions when the reviewers rush to experience a 50-hour game in three days, which is so badly overdue for everyone-the reviewers who could actually enjoy the game and the players who get proper reviews.
There’s a little worry about early review copies potentially equating to being of a certain quality. One guy said, “Games you can feel,” whatever that means? Though, others said, “Wow, they must really believe in their product. That’s a good sign,” which seems to be the consensus of those not actively negative.
Of course, there’s an idiot here who brings up Silksong in completely inappropriate conversations. “Nobody cares dude, Silksong all the way”-okay, we get it, you’re waiting for Hollow Knight 2. We all are. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be excited about other games too.
This whole early review copy kerfuffle raises one of the classic questions of who gets early access and why. Some suggest only ‘friendly’ reviewers will get copies; others say that’s how it goes with bigger titles. Honestly, probably both? Publishers like to send early copies out to people they know will, in one way or another, do the publisher a favor with coverage, whether that’s positive or negative.
Now these reactions themselves are interestingly split. You’ve got those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, the ones already hating on a game they’ve never played, questioning the review process itself, and just begging Geoff to send them the copy when he’s done with it. The gaming community remains more divided than ever-as in, not at all.
All in all, an early review copy for Ghost of Yotei is massive news: it shows that Sony and the developers have faith in what they’ve put their heart into. Whether that faith is warranted… well, we’ll all see on September 25 when the reviews come out. Until then, there’s more waiting and speculation. And apparently a lot of arguments on whether the game is considered to be “woke,” because everything now has to be about culture wars, apparently.
The situation captures the essence of what gaming is today – equal parts excitement and cynicism, and everyone has strong opinions on something they’ve never played with or against at all. That’s how it goes anyway, with much-anticipated releases; everybody has something to say, whether something to do with the conversation, or not.
So mark your calendars for September 25 if you want to find out if Ghost of Yotei is worth the hype. Or just ignore all the reviews and form your own opinion come release day. It’ll definitely be one rather interesting gaming story of the week, if not entirely for the way people are reacting to a simple tweet about getting a game early.
