The Crew won't be given to reviewers before release, says Ubisoft

The Crew is an MMO, so Ubisoft won't be providing review copies ahead of launch day.

The Crew isn't suitable for pre-release reviews, Ubisoft has said.

"Many of you will be eager to turn to experts for their professional advice. You want to read how the pros feel after their carefully considered road tests of The Crew," the publisher wrote on the Ubisoft Blog.

"The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it’s only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world. And by other, we mean thousands and thousands and thousands of players – something that can’t be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press."

As such, press will receive copies of the game on launch day alongside everyone else.

"There will be absolutely no embargo on any type of coverage once the game is available for sale," Ubisoft said, which is certainly a relief after the whole Assassin's Creed: Unity debacle.

The publisher said that the nature of the game means day one reviews might not be informative and accurate as you've come to expect for more traditional games.

"While we fully anticipate that you might see some reviews immediately at launch – largely built around the preview sessions we facilitated during the past months or the limited content of the closed and open betas – they won’t be based on optimal conditions or reflect the finished game," ubisoft said.

"We sincerely hope everyone will take the time to customize their ride as they progress through all five regions, explore every corner of the map solo and with friends, dive into our competitive and cooperative mechanics, race to the end of the main campaign, choose a Faction and compete with your crew in Factions Wars, and so much more."

Day one reviews of MMOs certainly aren't common, except in situations where an expansion has launched with a significant period of beta testing open to established players, so Ubisoft isn't doing anything especially weird here. Still, it's going to be hard to message that to gamers used to picking up console games with reviews well in advance of launch day.

The Crew releases on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on December 2.