Norway’s NRK news service has accused EA of witholding review copies of upcoming shooter Battlefield 3 from various gaming publications who are likely to produce a negative review, following an email sent out containing some rather dubious questions.
The questions, as listed below, effectively profiles gaming publications, and the results determine which of them is sent out a review copy.
* Did the reviewer personally review BFBC2 or Black Ops?
* What score did he give it?
* What is his past experience with Battlefield?
* Is he a fan of Battlefield?
* Is he a fan of Call of Duty?
* Has he been playing BF Franchise? BFBC2? 1943? BF2?
* Has he expressed enthusiasm or concern for BF3? What are they?
* Did he play the beta? Did he enjoy it / get frustrated with it?
* What is his present view on the game?
EA’s Marketing Manager for Norway, Oliver Sveen, has since apologized on the behalf of EA, claiming that the questions were sent out in "human error."
“It is a human error that was sent out. We have made a mistake and we apologise. It is not something that should have happened earlier or [that] we intend to continue.”
But the question begs to be asked, why is EA afraid of negative reviews?
Stay tuned.