14 DAY TRIAL // Among video game publishers, Eidos doesn't have the best of reputations, as two years ago a scandal involving the Kane & Lynch video game inflicted a heavy cost on the reputation of the UK-based company.
For those of you who don't know, Eidos invested heavily in ad space on gaming website GameSpot, after which the chief reviewer of the site gave the game only a 6 out of 10 score and shortly thereafter he was fired by the company.
Now, one of the most popular British gaming blogs, The RAM Raider, has posted that Eidos is once again interfering with the review scores of its upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum game. It would seem that, if game magazines guaranteed a cover story on the game and a score of at least 90%, then they could publish the review early.
“Several mags have their review code already, but have to sit on their reviews until a hateful embargo expires at the end of the month. But Eidos, ever the helpful fellows that they are, have been offering a way around this embargo. If you dedicate the cover of your mag to Arkham Asylum and guarantee a score of at least 90%, Eidos will allow you to run the review early.”
Eidos has already issued a statement regarding this subject, denying any of the accusations brought forth by the gaming blog. “With regards an article posted on RamRaider alleging that Eidos has fixed review scores for Batman: Arkham Asylum, we want to state that no discussions have been held about review scores with any magazines. In short there is simply not one shred of truth in this article, except for the title of the game,” said Jon Brooke, head of UK Marketing, Eidos.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is shaping up to be a very interesting game, and, at least in the eyes of Eidos, one that will sell a lot of copies. As such, it is a shame that such scandals are showing up just when the game is gearing up to be launched on August 25 in North American and August 28 in Europe.