VideoGamer reports that the review embargo for No Man’s Sky, Hello Games’ long-awaited space title, will lift on Monday, August 8. As things stand, that’s just a day before the game’s North American release on August 9, with the outlet revealing that those early verdicts will begin surfacing soon after 8pm PT/11pm ET come Monday – or 4am BST, depending on your timezone.
Indeed, news of an embargo puts to bed some rumors that began swirling late last week, when it was claimed that review copies of No Man’s Sky wouldn’t ship until after launch, hauling out the age-old argument regarding embargoes and how they affect audience expectations.
As OpenCritic points out, however, this is standard practice for practically all PR companies, and no matter what date is set, it in now way reflects the quality of the end product.
99% of major titles have a review embargo. They’re beneficial to all parties, including consumers. Without an embargo, critics are [incentivized] to rush to publish. Embargo forces them to take their time.
No Man’s Sky will make its long-awaited debut across PlayStation 4 and PC early next week. Due to a delay at the eleventh hour, it’ll hit PC a little later than expected on August 12, while those on PS4 can expect Hello Games’ new IP to arrive on August 9 and August 10 across North America and the United Kingdom, respectively.