No Planet Zoo Reviews

[Sclurp]

Hello Frontier,

Please re-think your decision when it comes to sending out review copies to the press. I have seen on social media that multiple outlets have been denied copies for the same reason (not supporting the game enough during previews).

I have not seen this policy happen with any other game as outlets are not obligated to “support” games at any stage in the lead up to their release. I worry on your behalf that this decision will be interpreted as trying to control possible negative reviews at launch so as to not affect sales.

People worry about being duped because so many companies try it and Frontier have built such a strong relationship with their fanbase that it would be very disappointing to see anything tarnish that.

I would like to stress that I’m saying that’s how some may interpret your decision.

I must admit this decision does have me worried as the number of problems present in the beta made me wonder how it could be possible to tackle them before the launch of the game (as there was such little time). I would rather see the game delayed and perfected than released and patched gradually.

You do have a game that has so much promise though and it deserves to be visible. YouTubers and streamers do not have the same reach. Please reconsider the decision you’ve made.

If what’s been said online isn’t true, I welcome hearing that that’s the case.

“I guess we won’t have a review of Planet Zoo at launch because one preview in Sept wasn’t enough for Frontier, and they’ve declined to send copies because we didn’t “support Planet Zoo throughout the campaign.”


I honestly can’t recall having gotten a response like that before.”

@DanStapleton (Twitter, Very Scary Editor)


All the best,
C

 

[Mjmannella]

Unfortunately, it's way too late to delay the game now that it's a week until launch.

In any case, I wonder if part of the reason why IGN wasn't given a review copy was because of the low score given to Jurassic World Evolution. Perhaps the marketing team decided to only give review copies to those they believe will rate the game favourably.

 

[bamber]

week to go I want to be surprised worst thing about the cinema is you see in trailers the whole film. I now WANT to be surprised the only review that matters to me is mine - not some press cutting

 

[Moonfox]

I’ve never read a gaming magazine or paper or blog or wherever these things are published and had never heard of IGN until fairly recently.

I’m someone who only plays simulation games and all I know of IGN is that they always review simulations extremely poorly and unfairly. Their reviews are utterly meaningless to me. I’d rather have my info from gameplay videos on YouTube, or community forums - pretty much anywhere that simulation games are loved for what a simulation game is.

I think it would have been a waste of money, time and effort for Frontier to engage with IGN and the like. These reviews are not free, and I guarantee that the outcome would have been another biased, worthless and mindless review from IGN workers who only like shoot-em-up games. That’s not Frontier trying to prevent negative reviews, it’s them deciding not to pour their PR budget down the toilet.

I’m sure Planet Zoo will have much greater success in focussing on PR efforts that go to people who will appreciate the game, and reach the community who will actually play it.

 

[HeatherG]

I’ve never read a gaming magazine or paper or blog or wherever these things are published and had never heard of IGN until fairly recently.

I’m someone who only plays simulation games and all I know of IGN is that they always review simulations extremely poorly and unfairly. Their reviews are utterly meaningless to me. I’d rather have my info from gameplay videos on YouTube, or community forums - pretty much anywhere that simulation games are loved for what a simulation game is.

I think it would have been a waste of money, time and effort for Frontier to engage with IGN and the like. These reviews are not free, and I guarantee that the outcome would have been another biased, worthless and mindless review from IGN workers who only like shoot-em-up games. That’s not Frontier trying to prevent negative reviews, it’s them deciding not to pour their PR budget down the toilet.

I’m sure Planet Zoo will have much greater success in focussing on PR efforts that go to people who will appreciate the game, and reach the community who will actually play it.

Very Very True!

 

[Silhouette]

After all the feedback given during the beta I wouldn't be surprised if they were working on the game practically up until release. Which means an early release to the press wouldn't be the final released version, and therefore wouldn't be rated fairly.

And... I'm sure Frontier knows what's best for the game. I honestly don't understand why so many people lately have been talking as though they know better about marketing than the people at Frontier who, you know, do this for a living?

They decided not to release press copies and that's their right. Not sure why you thought it necessary to ask them to change their mind on a decision they would have discussed in depth amongst themselves.

 

[Sclurp]

I just want to mention, not as a counter to anything you all have said, that this isn’t just IGN but multiple outlets.

 

[Voids Light]

Its strange to be certain, but they might want to go down the road to letting youtubers who've been following the game review it, as they know a lot about the game, due to the coverage they've done all year long. People like Bestinslot and Rudi have a lot of subscribers and followed the game up until launch. They even got to play the game, so I'm sure they probably got review copies, as those channels play more simulation games. I really do think the bigger media outlets didn't get review copies, mainly due to most of them not being big fans of simulation games. I've also heard some things about the guy from IGN who was refused a review copy, where he doesn't really like simulation games all that much. I'd personally rather watch a review made by Bestinslot or someone else other than IGN though, since their reviews have been known to be kind of iffy in the past.

 

[ASalton1]

Did any company get a review copy (not including beta)?

 

[Cile]

I don't think that there is anything wrong with not handing out free copies for reviews, I mean everyone who played the beta version basically knows what to expect and all the people who made youtube videos already sort of put their content out there, albeit all beta content but i'm sure the game wont fall far from the beta, however it can only be better, so i doubt they need the extra publicity from handing out free copies to popular review outlets atm. I mean I am sure if they felt they did not have enough publicity already then they probably would have gone and handed out the game to a select few early, however I feel that with the beta and what not and all the connection they have to their community, that they do not have dire need for more free publicity, and when the game officially launches, they will get more then enough reviews and free publicity from all the fans I am fairly certain.

 

[Moonfox]

I don't think that there is anything wrong with not handing out free copies for reviews, I mean everyone who played the beta version basically knows what to expect and all the people who made youtube videos already sort of put their content out there, albeit all beta content but i'm sure the game wont fall far from the beta, however it can only be better, so i doubt they need the extra publicity from handing out free copies to popular review outlets atm. I mean I am sure if they felt they did not have enough publicity already then they probably would have gone and handed out the game to a select few early, however I feel that with the beta and what not and all the connection they have to their community, that they do not have dire need for more free publicity, and when the game officially launches, they will get more then enough reviews and free publicity from all the fans I am fairly certain.

Agree! I don’t know where this expectation of free early access for reviews came from. I don’t think it should be expected, much less demanded.

 

[meimento]

Are they not still fixing the game, therefore no copy to give out?

 

[Voids Light]

Are they not still fixing the game, therefore no copy to give out?

It could be this as well, as I'm sure they're trying their hardest to fix all the glitches before the 5th. I wouldn't mind if they delayed the game a few weeks, as it seems like if they're fixing the game, they're going to need to put their employees on crunch time to fix it. Either that, or fix the more important bugs before the game comes out, and then after release fix the minor bugs.

 

[VioletGrey]

Right now there are still some surprises that they're keeping secret until the official launch, so if they do give out copies for review, it won't be until the day of launch or the day before, I imagine. They can't trust Youtubers to keep quiet about the surprises they'll reveal on launch day.

 

[Voids Light]

Right now there are still some surprises that they're keeping secret until the official launch, so if they do give out copies for review, it won't be until the day of launch or the day before, I imagine. They can't trust Youtubers to keep quiet about the surprises they'll reveal on launch day.

Well, they have NDA's for a reason. Anyone who breaks an NDA ends up in extremely bad legal trouble. Of course it won't stop people who get the game, unless Frontier is selective about who plays and reviews the game.

Edit: Also, I just saw that on the reddit, someone dived deeper into this person's claims from IGN, and there was no beta coverage of planet zoo, like they claimed they did. Odd..

The user on reddit said:

"I mean, looking at IGN's site... It looks like they didn't post anything about the beta while that was active. I wonder if that's what they're referring to?

I know there were more than a few sites that offered up thoughts/reviews of the beta while it was all going on.

I'm honestly not sure how any of this works, but frankly, it feels like a bad look for both this reviewer and Frontier."

(please note the above edited in statement is not my own words, and is the words of someone else on Reddit, hence the quotation marks.)

 

[AndyZoos]

One week before a game comes out feels like a really strange time for somebody to be griping about not getting a review copy too. I would imagine that you would want somebody to spend plenty of time with a game like this (i.e., weeks rather than days) in order to effectively review it. I would imagine the lead time is probably greater than one week for pretty much any game.

My money is on the game still being fixed following the beta (which is fair). But why not just say that? I'm not sure, but that's something only Frontier knows (and I'm sure it's going to stay that way). So whatever.

I'm honestly not sure how much a review from IGN even really matters, to be honest. I feel like it probably wouldn't matter so much to people wanting to play a game like Planet Zoo compared to say, a big Rockstar Games release getting a negative review or something.

 

[Sclurp]

Someone asked why I think it’s necessary to ask for this...

- You are focussing on IGN when I’ve said this is multiple outlets. (Some who do cover and love this genre).

- I think you are overestimating the reach of Youtubers/streamers you personally are interested in and if you wish to see this community expand and for a larger audience than PC had to be achieved for this game, righting the wrongs of their previous game in the Planet series (getting mixed/ lukewarm reviews) should be a goal: making sure they improve on management and simulation that Planet Coaster was rightly criticised for lacking. If they haven’t done this, it might not be something gamers can pick up on within the refund window and that’s not particularly fair. Reviews enable potential customers to make an informed decision.

- If the claims are true, Frontier have said ‘No you don’t get to cover our game because you didn’t cover our game.’ That seems pretty silly. No one else in this industry behaves this way.

- Creating tension with these outlets for arbitrary reasons (If this is true) when you don’t have a big publisher that can pump millions into marketing, not the best idea! Could potentially lead to a total lack of interest in PZ going forward.

Those are my concerns and thoughts and I think they’re pretty fair. I appreciate the opinions you have shared despite disagreeing with some. I would also appreciate it if you wouldn’t take my post as an attack or me trying to act like I know better than Frontier etc etc

Frontier can make mistakes and we can criticise their decisions. It’s no drama. I’ve not posted anything ragey or toxic.

Ta,
C

 

[Merit Selket]

I stopped reading reviews on games years ago, both printed or online. their articles always seemed to be like the yellow press and this sort of journalism is something I don´t need in any parts of my life.
"YouTubers and streamers do not have the same reach " maybe not but I trust more in a gameplay video of a proffessional youtuber then any review, many of my friends and coworkers who are into games see it the same way

 

[Factabulous]

It’s no drama. I’ve not posted anything ragey or toxic.

Not rated, just toxic.

 

[cerealfruitcakes]

I refunded my game, I cannot support a company that does this. IGN's(& other review sites) job is to review your game, not to give your game exposure. That is the job of your marketing department, not review sites. Dangling a carrot over their head with review copies over how much exposure they give you is just petty and unprofessional. That's how Youtubers are treated; give them a lot of exposure like DeLady, Rudi & Silver and you'll get a review copy otherwise forget about it. It looks like Frontier wants to treat gaming sites the same way and I sadly cannot support that.