Panickd wrote on Dec 1, 2013, 10:29:
Once publishers began tying developer bonuses to Metacritic scores developers were bound to begin paying for good reviews. It's not like this hasn't been happening forever. Top reviewers get all kinds of perks from the companies that make the games. They rarely pay for the games they review. They get flown out to launch parties for big titles and new consoles by the companies that make them. All of that is just paying for reviews in a different way.

What? Developers have nothing to do with marketing (the department that handles relations with reviewers). That's all on the publisher's side. And I'm pretty sure most publishers don't explicitly bribe reviewers. That's way too risky in today's age. Instead, they offer more circuitous incentives like exclusive previews. There's a reason why Game Informer gets almost every world exclusive first look at new games. If you write for Game Informer, your reviews will be influenced by this. Your own success is directly tied to the success of Game Informer and Game Informer's success is tied the exclusives they get. If you give a bunch of low scores to high-profile games, the publishers of those games are less likely to give your publication more exclusives. This is why high-profile games almost always get at least an 8.

Once publishers began tying developer bonuses to Metacritic scores developers were bound to begin paying for good reviews. It's not like this hasn't been happening forever. Top reviewers get all kinds of perks from the companies that make the games. They rarely pay for the games they review. They get flown out to launch parties for big titles and new consoles by the companies that make them. All of that is just paying for reviews in a different way.

Cutter wrote on Nov 30, 2013, 11:50:
I guess he's never heard of PC Gamer or any other major commercial review magazine or site.

PCGamer should just advertise the price to add each point to a review score. Dragon Age 2 was 98% or something - just says it all.

Wait, review sites charge the games companies to do reviews? I've been missing out!

Cutter wrote on Nov 30, 2013, 11:50:
Oh? This is something new is it? This hasn't been happening since day one? I guess he's never heard of PC Gamer or any other major commercial review magazine or site.

I think the difference is explicitly paying vs. the self-censorship-to-protect-access-and-ad-revenue model of the big media publications.

Oh? This is something new is it? This hasn't been happening since day one? I guess he's never heard of PC Gamer or any other major commercial review magazine or site.