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Giant Bomb claims they were denied a Borderlands 3 review copy due to 'dubious E3 coverage'.

Meg Cherry

Meg Cherry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,253
Seattle, WA
Just came up on the latest Bombcast, which is streaming live for Premium subscribers.

Jeff noted that while other outlets were told they were denied advance copies due to 'security concerns', the 2K rep they talked to specifically cited the tone of their previous coverage of the game as the reason for not getting the same advance access as other outlets.

While this probably could be part of the review thread, this seems like a notable development in the larger story of BL3's review situation. The number of outlets getting access ahead of the review embargo seemed a bit confusing & inconsistent. Formal confirmation that outlets were denied access due to negative coverage of the game prior to launch feels like a smoking gun.

Rough Transcript (Courtesy of SmiteofHand)

[They discuss the reasons outlets state they were denied codes such as security concerns.]

Jeff: "When we inquired about it we were not told 'hey, there are security concerns', we were told - and I'm paraphrasing here - but we were told by a 2k PR representative that based on the sentiment of our E3 coverage that they were going to send it to us closer to launch. So if you want to take that, I feel like that just empties a full magazine into the security concern shit and make it sound a whole lot like they wanted to micromanage reviews for a good day one metacritic. So congratulations to them for their 85 on day one!"
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Musubi

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
23,611
I mean its not Giantbomb's fault Randy Pitchford is a maniac and they just happened to cover his ludicrous antics over the past several months.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,880
They must have really hated the fact that Ben and Jan spent so much time seeing if Claptrap dabbed in the reveal trailer
 
Cenauru

Cenauru

Dragon Girl Supremacy
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,935
I really wish we could just remove 2K and Randy from the Borderlands IP, I'd really like to see the game not surrounded by the idiocy of it's creator/ publisher.
 

Deleted member 36578

Dec 21, 2017
26,561
Well that's just ridiculous. Borderlands 3 has so much crazy crap surrounding it.
 
dreamfall

dreamfall

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,939
Well, it seems to absolutely be a way to deny certain outlets (even U.S.) from reviewing the game - probably for fear of critical coverage. It's actually a genius way to control the press review coverage - deny review copies from outlets the publisher thinks will score "unfairly" while claiming it's for security.
 

ZeDorguinh

Banned
Feb 10, 2019
53
User banned (2 weeks): trolling, account in junior phase
If giant bomb want to Review borderlands, buy it.

2k give the key for who they want.
 
Illusion

Illusion

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,407
The crap they are doing so they can curb early reviews feelings like they are intentionally trying to mislead their customers.

Sounds like they are too fragile to handle this game failing in any way.
 
LewieP

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,091
2K is free to make that kind of decision, but I'm glad Giant Bomb shared this information, because it is good to have this out there for the public to consider.
 
adumb

adumb

Banned
Aug 17, 2019
548
I feel like this is less about the quality of the game and more about 2K being fucking batshit
 
tulpa

tulpa

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,878
That's not the reason. All sorts of outlets had favorable E3 coverage and preview access and got denied. Some have been very harsh on Gearbox (Game Informer) and got access. Don't think it's about that.
 
ev0

ev0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,420
This is also hilarous b/c Giant Bomb has only reviewed two games this year in the official sense
 
melikefishnchips

melikefishnchips

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,674
ZeDorguinh said:
If giant bomb want to Review borderlands, buy it.

2k give the key for who they want.
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I mean, at it's core you're not wrong but picking and choosing favorites is weak (particularly when they're this transparent about it)

For all that, you'd do a better job at preserving word of mouth for your game by not giving out review copies at all
 
Alucrid

Alucrid

Chicken Photographer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,404
if giantbomb want a review copy of the game then they can wait around until after a medieval times show like the rest of us
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,467
lmao

I think they just gave keys to 100% certain high scores, it will drop after launch.
 
cw_sasuke

cw_sasuke

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,335
At least they are not hiding the fact that they are using those outlets as nothing more than PR arms.
 
Fevaweva

Fevaweva

Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,463
I don't even remember then being that critical or cynical about Borderlands. I thought they were all pretty interested.
 
ZeroCoin

ZeroCoin

Member
Oct 26, 2017
431
Discussion on the livestream starts at 2:21:00 if any premium members weren't watching and what to listen to what they had to say.
 
Pyro

Pyro

God help us the mods are making weekend threads
Member
Jul 30, 2018
14,505
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So because they did their job as journalists and talked about 2K's pedo magician embarrassment that is Randy Pitchford, they get blacklisted?
 

Deleted member 274

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
7,564
Lmao they did not appreciate Abby and Dan not giving a single fuck about it in the E3 preview, if only they were more into fake enthusiasm
 
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