14 DAY TRIAL // In a surprising turn of events, PlayStation has decided to do something unusual for once. As many of you gamers probably know by now, God of War is set for release on April 20, but journalists have been given copies of the game long before the game goes on sale.
The review embargo for God of War lifts at 08:01 BST / 09:01 CET / 12:01 PST on April 12, a bit more than a week before the game's release. We've already finished the game and we'll publish our full review when the embargo expires, so stay tuned for more on that one.
However, it appears that PlayStation Romania has decided that giving the game for free to one member of a certain Facebook group focusing on gaming will make a great PR stunt. Usually, that's not a problem at all, but giving away the game to a person that's not a member of the media (nor a streamer) before it's actually released could lead to (un)wanted leaks.
We're not questioning PlayStation Romania's marketing strategy, but can't help but wonder if Sony knows about the initiative. We know for sure that PlayStation Romania has been given review copies of God of War to just about anyone who owns a blog (regardless of the topics), so if you're not yet sure whether or not to pre-order God of War, that should answer your question.
It's common knowledge that every time a developer hands out review copies of their product much in advance and in high quantities, it's because they are certain the game is good.
The only exception is when a game requires online gameplay and servers aren't up until it's actually released. Whenever a game is bad, you won't be seeing too many publications reviewing that game. Moreover, review copies are usually sent very close to release.
Here is an excerpt from the NDA we've agreed upon, which we think it's relevant for the subject:
“Santa Monica Studio has spent nearly 5 years developing a new beginning for God of War. It would be our strongest request to please help protect the storyline and gameplay reveals the team has worked so hard to allow every fan worldwide to experience on their own, without spoil. We greatly appreciate your partnership on this to the fullest (and so will the fans!).”
Hopefully, the one lucky person getting God of War before the game is actually released will be decent enough not to leak anything before April 12.