The action role-playing game Forspoken, the new work by the makers of Final Fantasy 15, will be released on Tuesday. Recently, you could learn from us in a detailed preview that the adventure looks promising, but also leaves many questions unanswered.
The normal sequence of events would have been: we get a code for the game a little in advance and then put one of our editors in charge so that he or she edits the topic accordingly; with a test, with a special, possible version comparisons, etc. But that won’t be the case this time. As of today, January 20, 2023, 4:10 p.m., no code has yet been sent to Forspoken (buy now €79.99 ) made available. That wouldn’t be so unusual either if numerous other editorial offices in Germany and the rest of the world hadn’t been able to confirm that they had codes since last Friday and were preparing their reports accordingly.
How can that be? A first query from our editor scheduled for the test on Monday, January 16, 2023 remained unanswered. In my capacity as Editor-in-Chief, I got in touch with our press contact at Square Enix on Tuesday. The explanation: There would have been “a mistake”, we would have slipped from an internal list, but that was due to human error. The code would be made available to us as soon as possible, but “it could take a while”.
To date we have not received a code, in today’s exchange with Square Enix PR it was said that they hope to be able to supply us “in the course of the day”.
For classification: This is not normal. It happens that code for games reaches us late or even at launch, often enough because the manufacturers know that their product is no good and they want to delay bad ratings. But then all gaming outlets are usually affected.
As the game editors, we are not only responsible for entertainment and certainly not for repeating advertising messages, but also for purchasing advice. We play the titles before they go on sale, gamers follow this recommendation.
Certainly not on our alone. But, and this brings me to the point that scandalizes the whole story: we are not the only ones without code, the excuse that there was a “human error” is no longer valid.
Right now, editorial staff is lining up to report that Square Enix has not supplied them with codes. We’re not just talking about smaller blogs here, but also bigger and bigger outlets. There are currently masses of comments from the editors on Twitter (Compilation originally via Neogaf):
It’s an open secret in the gaming industry that some publishers work with “blacklists”. Entire editorial departments can end up there or individual editors if they have done something that the respective management does not like. As in this case, it can’t be overly positive preliminary reporting, it can be a test rating that you don’t like, it can be something else that wasn’t well received.
As a rule, this is not publicly communicated. In this case, too, we can only rely on hearsay. I am in contact with some editorial offices who feel the same way, there is a corresponding consensus. Apparently for fear of any negative test reports on Forspoken, access was denied to editors classified as “too critical”.
That’s also what a source in the US told me. I cannot fully verify this information, but given the circumstances it is very likely: Square Enix USA would have distributed approvals for individual editorial offices worldwide – or not. Codes would have been denied if previews or other coverage of Forspoken had been deemed too negative.
From our generally positive preview, which didn’t praise every aspect of the game beyond the clover but offered criticism where necessary, it seemed Square Enix had already crossed the Rubicon.
Such situations are not necessarily new, and of course the fact is that Square Enix does not HAVE to send us any codes. It’s a give and take, we need products to report on and in exchange give reach. That’s how it is in product journalism, but also in any other type of reporting.
Ultimately, we don’t have to report either. And with Forspoken in mind, we’re not going to do a review whether we get a code today or not. We will not stop our reporting as such and will therefore keep you informed if we receive further information about what we believe to be an unacceptable procedure.
It is important to the entire editorial team and to me to play with open cards. We can’t just ignore Square Enix’s approach without comment.
In the end, I think the decision makers at Square Enix didn’t do themselves or Forspoken any favors with this behavior.
The Barbara Streisand effect is an old, mean beast, and trying to artificially stop potentially negative reporting, which isn’t even a given – our tester Forspoken might have thought it would have been great – is a shot in the foot. What’s going to stick with a lot of people, at least for the foreseeable future, regardless of how good or bad the game is, is this lead-up debacle. It’s a pity for the uninvolved developers, who without a doubt put a lot of effort and heart and soul into their project.
