Ubisoft doesn’t want early reviews of The Crew because it can’t re-create online experience before launch

Don’t expect to get buying advice on Ubisoft’s next game before it goes on sale.

The publisher isn’t making its upcoming racer The Crew available to critics before it goes on sale Dec. 2. It announced today that it will give reviewers access to it on the same day as everyone else. Ubisoft explained its decision by pointing to the The Crew’s reliance on interaction with other real people. The Crew is an open-world driving game that will have you teaming up with friends to take on other teams of players. Ubisoft claims you’ll interact with “thousands and thousands and thousands” of other people online, and that it cannot re-create that experience for reviewers.