Alan Wake 2 Developer talks about his experience of playing Star Wars Outlaws and the problem with the system of reviewing that has been prevalent in the industry at the moment, especially with digital release only games.
Star Wars Outlaws was scheduled to be released on August 27, 2024. However, that date has now been pushed a couple days further, and the game is now expected to release on August 30, 2024.
The Star Wars Outlaws Debacle Pointed Out By Thomas Puha
Thomas Puha is the Communications Director at Remedy Entertainment, who is known for Alan Wake, Max Payne, and Control. He got the chance to review Star Wars Outlaws and shared his opinion on the game without being too harsh.
He is of the opinion that big games should not be given for review only a few days before release, as it bottles the reviewer’s vision and forces them to give their half-cooked opinions, which is never healthy for the game.
Digital games have the liberty to be tweaked till the very end, sometimes even till the day of the release, due to which reviewers sometimes get the game only a few days before the release and then they are expected to dissect the game to the very core, which often becomes difficult.
Thomas Puha was also very quick to jump to conclusions with Star Wars Outlaws, as he has been a part of the gaming industry for a long time and understands what goes behind making the game.
I think two weeks, 10 days, depending on game is…best we can do and should be enough as long as the game works, but with all being so digital now, inenvitably there's patches. I dont really want to send out review codes with a caveat list of "we are fixing these" because…I…
— Thomas Puha (@RiotRMD) August 28, 2024
According to Puha, a big game should be given to a reviewer at least 2 weeks to 10 days before the release of the game so that they have enough time to form an informed opinion, which by extension would help the game further.
Reviewers Should Be Taken More Seriously
Game reviewers play an important role in helping developers create a final product by giving their valuable feedback, which makes the game even better upon its final release.
However, this process is not taken as seriously as it should be, and games are handed out only a few days before the release of the game, which does not work well with the reviewers as they are forced to hold back due to the time foundation they are restricted within.
Thomas Puha points out this aspect of the trade in detail in his latest post as he talks about the ideal time span that is required for a comprehensive and meaningful review.
You want reviewewers to be able to play enough and not have to rush, but especially with digital release only games, the dev teams can tinker until the last minute and well, that's what happens. Its only good intentions, but you cant send big games for review a few days before…
— Thomas Puha (@RiotRMD) August 28, 2024
Puha was articulate with his words and made sure he was not lashing out on any game or developer. What, according to you, is the ideal time for review? Let us know in the comments below.
