Today marks the day that the Borderlands 3 launch trailer was dropped, and it’s a spectacle to behold. Explosions, tons of over the top action, and a jamming tune. Honestly, it reminds me of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Though, I’m not 100% sure as to why, but let’s just go with it.
Just check it out for yourself, it’s a roaring good time. Yep, I said roaring.
What’s not so hot is that multiple outlets are reporting that the review process for Borderlands 3 has been a mess. Only a handful of US-based outlets received codes, and many, if not all of them were provided Epic Game Store accounts instead. Both Metro UK and VG247 have gone on record, reporting they were told various reasons why they didn’t receive a code. Despite both outlets having gone to several Borderlands 3 events and have considerable knowledge of the game. Adding to this, many smaller outlets were also denied codes. Several of which I’ve spoken to who have heard nothing back from 2K but were informed they were supposed to receive access to the game.
As such only a handful of review scores have been released. With some people being fairly upset over this practice, with some calling these reviews provided by “2K-Approved Outlets”. I can see the frustration and agree 100%. This is a process that I haven’t heard about or seen before, and we’ve received review codes for games that were hosted on the Epic Games Store.
According to these reports, many have reported that the review codes are being handled like this to due “Security”. I guess they’re referring to that incident where a well known YouTuber was able to get their hands on some meaty Borderlands 3 info and leaked it all. The same person that 2K sent private investors over to harass. Nothing confirmed by 2K, be that as it may regarding these “security” concerns.
Of those who’ve played the game, many have reported that the game code isn’t final, yet for some reason, the reviews appear to be all over the play. Some outlets are providing decent scores, others are dismissing the game due to its current state. And it all begs to ask one question; If those who reviewed the game on the PC received the same access. Then shouldn’t the reception of the game, the performance and the warnings from Gearbox be the same across the board?
Something doesn’t seem right here.
Instead of sending out Borderlands 3 review codes, publisher 2K set reviewers up with special Epic Games Store accounts that included early builds of the game. And they wouldn't give access to certain outlets, including Kotaku. Very weird situation: https://t.co/1iqvJpTzP9
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 9, 2019
Such a shame that 2K and Gearbox ran such a shady review process for #borderlands3. For God of War, Sony put out perfectly polished review code 2 WEEKS before release to EVERYONE who asked for it
When you run it like this it just makes you look like you have something to hide.
— Skill Up on twitch.tv/skillupyt (@SkillUpYT) September 9, 2019
No matter how you look at this, this entire situation is shady as heck. If I didn’t know any better, it seems as 2K wants to pad the reviews by providing access to a limited number of outlets and controlling the narrative. It’s bad enough that gaming journalism is already frowned upon by several critics. Now publishers are being super selective to who a title is sent to?
What exactly is going on?
