My two cents are that no publication/reviewer should receive special treatment over any other, as that inherently raises an issue of bias. Being the first to review a major title is a massive boost to a publication, so obviously they would never want to do anything to damage a business relationship which benefits them financially.
I'm definitely not saying it wouldn't have been a 10/10, but this type of thing just shouldn't be happening. Every developer/publisher in the industry should not give benefits to one publication over another.







