Stevivor will not publish a Pokemon Sword and Shield review as a Nintendo Australia and New Zealand (AUNZ) representative has confirmed early review code will not be provided on Nintendo Switch.
In an email sent to Stevivor, a Nintendo AUNZ rep confirmed that “copies of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield will only be available for media review on release in Australia and New Zealand.”
As per Stevivor’s review policy, we have turned down the opportunity to review at the game’s launch due to concerns over the crunch a reviewer would have to face in order to play the game to an adequate point to review and then to write and polish the review itself.
We asked Nintendo AUNZ if other regions would have pre-release access to the game.
“I’m unable to speak on behalf of Nintendo of America in regards to their timing for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, as we represent the regions of Australia and New Zealand only,” the representative told us. “The decision to release the game to media may vary between regions.”
We’ve asked Nintendo AUNZ to forward our request for comment onto Nintendo of America and will update this story if we hear back.
Pokemon Sword and Shield heads to Nintendo Switch on 15 November.
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