Did you enjoy the big The Sims 4 data dump that we shared earlier today? I hope so, otherwise this fresh piece of news will be exceptionally painful. It seems as though Electronic Arts has decided not to allow early access for the game, thereby preventing any reviews from coming out before the release date. This information comes from IGN reviews editor Dan Stapleton, who received confirmation directly from EA:
Looks like there'll be no The Sims 4 reviews until after it's out. EA tells me no one's getting access ahead of release. I'm nervous.
— Dan Stapleton (@DanStapleton) August 18, 2014
EA is already in hot water with fans for choosing to remove long-standing core features from The Sims 4 in order to sell them in future expansions. Now, without access to reviews prior to launch, buyers will have no choice but to buy blindly. That ought to make everyone just as nervous as Mr. Stapleton up there.
Certainly we haven't forgotten the debacle surrounding last year's SimCity, when early reviews praised the latest installment in the city-building franchise, only for those good feelings to turn sour when persistent server issues made the game unplayable for everyone for months. EA likely doesn't want a repeat of that situation by ensuring that the press is reviewing the version of The Sims 4 that everyone else has access to. But instead of feeling like sensible foresight, it feels more like lack of confidence in a flawed product.
Maybe the game will wind up better than sliced bread, but EA has several mountains to climb in order to get back in fans' good graces. We'll find out for sure when The Sims 4 launches on Windows on September 2.
