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Starfield’s PR Director has a tough job with access to codes for one of the most-wanted games of the year. Apparently, there are still plenty of laughs in the gig, like certain publications requesting PS5 codes for one of the biggest Microsoft exclusives to date.

Starfield is off to an explosive albeit divisive start with its early access window. Some players are having the time of their lives recreating their favorite sci-fi starships, others are frustrated with the game’s slow start.

Critics of Starfield say the game’s flaws make the initially controversial scores from various publications more understandable. The pre-release hype was somewhat deflated by viral leaks that were thought to be a result of easy access to review codes.

One group of people who certainly won’t have early (or any) codes for Starfield are PS5 users but apparently, that hasn’t stopped them from asking. Bethesda’s Senior Director of PR Matt Frary revealed in a tweet that media outlets had nonetheless been asking him for Starfield PS5 codes.

Starfield PS5 codes are definitely not a thing​

For context, Starfield is definitely not coming to PlayStation consoles and likely never will. Frary reiterated that fact in a tweet about his experience handling the game’s launch.

“Shout out to the small handful of reviewers who requested a PS5 code unironically,” Freary posted. “ I may not have responded, but just know… you made me laugh.”

Starfield’s Xbox and PC exclusivity has caused the fires of the console wars to rage around any discussion of the game. The same was true for the comments section of Frary’s Tweet which led him to qualify his statement.

“This isn’t a console dig,” He clarified. “It’s a dig at contacts not checking their work.” It seems like certain publications may not have done a thorough enough scan of their email templates and wound up with some egg on their faces.

Starfield dev laughs at games media outlets asking for PS5 codes - Dexerto

Starfield PS5 codes may not exist but that hasn't stopped some games media publications from asking. Requests had a Starfield dev in stitches.

www.dexerto.com

 

[THE DUCK]

Some might see this as rude by Matt, most others would say those outlets who asked for ps5 code should be removed from any future preview lists since they seem disconnected from reality.

 

[SJRB]

 

[BbMajor7th]

The PR director might want to ask themselves why people would make that mistake in the first place. It's a strong indicator that they've failed to shift perception of Starfield as a multiplatform Bethesda game to that of an XBOX Games Studios exclusive. If members of the enthusiast press are still getting confused, you can only imagine how much more confused the general buying public would be. With it being a new IP that was largely unpublicised at the time of the acquisition, this is a double fail for Mr Frary and his team, whose responsibility it is to make sure there's no confusion around such things.

I'm betting this doesn't happen so much with other big console exclusives. Way to show yourself up for being bad at your job.

 

[sono]

since they seem disconnected from reality.

Yes that is why it is funny, it is a part of their job to be credible as a reviewer to have some knowledge of the industry!

 

[Matt_Fox]

When the average Gaffer is more informed than the professional journalists...

 

[TrueGrime]

The PR director might want to ask themselves why people would make that mistake in the first place. It's a strong indicator that they've failed to shift perception of Starfield as a multiplatform Bethesda game to that of an XBOX Games Studios exclusive. If members of the enthusiast press are still getting confused, you can only imagine how much more confused the general buying public would be. With it being a new IP that was largely unpublicised at the time of the acquisition, this is a double fail for Mr Frary and his team, whose responsibility it is to make sure there's no confusion around such things.

I'm betting this doesn't happen so much with other big console exclusives. Way to show yourself up for being bad at your job.

It was known that Starfield was exclusive to Xbox and PC since 2021. You've got to be special levels of dumb or just woken up from a coma from when Starfield leaked screens were being posted in 2020.

Or... you can be a gaffer asking if the game is still coming to PS5 post release in 2023.

 

[Pejo]

Game Journalists not knowing which platforms a marquee game is being released for?

More likely than you might think....

 

[THE DUCK]

The PR director might want to ask themselves why people would make that mistake in the first place. It's a strong indicator that they've failed to shift perception of Starfield as a multiplatform Bethesda game to that of an XBOX Games Studios exclusive. If members of the enthusiast press are still getting confused, you can only imagine how much more confused the general buying public would be. With it being a new IP that was largely unpublicised at the time of the acquisition, this is a double fail for Mr Frary and his team, whose responsibility it is to make sure there's no confusion around such things.

I'm betting this doesn't happen so much with other big console exclusives. Way to show yourself up for being bad at your job.

Never underestimate people's stupidity, I guarantee you Sony's had requests for thier AAA titles on xbox.

 

[BbMajor7th]

It was known that Starfield was exclusive to Xbox and PC since 2021. You've got to be special levels of dumb or just woken up from a coma from when Starfield leaked screens were being posted in 2020.

'It has been known' is not the same as 'people know'. Any idiot with a social media account can do the former, PR's job is to do the latter: to create a clear brand association in people's minds. A very good example would be the original Destiny. It was multiplatform at launch, but Activision and PlayStation were so tight on the messaging that there was a general perception among the public that it was an exclusive. This is the job of good PR and it starts with educating the press and influencers.

 

[ArtHands]

Maybe those gaming outlets were send by Sony

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Maybe it's just because outside UK/US Xbox bubble default console pair is PS5/Switch? I could easily see some outlet requestin PS5 code simply because their author asked for 'console' code.

Anyway, you can make very interesting assumptions from this anecdote, other than 'look how dumb they are'. This is a case when you better keep our PR silent on the matter altogether.

 

[dreamstation]

Maybe they were taking the piss for Microsoft buying Bethesda and cancelling the PS5 version?

 

[DenchDeckard]

This can't be true. No way "journalists" can be this out of touch.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

The PR director might want to ask themselves why people would make that mistake in the first place. It's a strong indicator that they've failed to shift perception of Starfield as a multiplatform Bethesda game to that of an XBOX Games Studios exclusive. If members of the enthusiast press are still getting confused, you can only imagine how much more confused the general buying public would be. With it being a new IP that was largely unpublicised at the time of the acquisition, this is a double fail for Mr Frary and his team, whose responsibility it is to make sure there's no confusion around such things.

I'm betting this doesn't happen so much with other big console exclusives. Way to show yourself up for being bad at your job.

 

[Spank_Magnet]

A PR guy says this and people take it seriously? Sounds like some deflection going on. Maybe MS is getting a bit jumpy at the current “varied” reception…

 

[TheHolyGhost]

The PR director might want to ask themselves why people would make that mistake in the first place. It's a strong indicator that they've failed to shift perception of Starfield as a multiplatform Bethesda game to that of an XBOX Games Studios exclusive. If members of the enthusiast press are still getting confused, you can only imagine how much more confused the general buying public would be. With it being a new IP that was largely unpublicised at the time of the acquisition, this is a double fail for Mr Frary and his team, whose responsibility it is to make sure there's no confusion around such things.

I'm betting this doesn't happen so much with other big console exclusives. Way to show yourself up for being bad at your job.

Yeah the blame is on this guy and not the small reviewers who don't do their job properly, anyone who's slightly into gaming knows it's an exclusive let alone "reviewers" or journalists, how bad do you have to be at your job if you didn't know that Starfield was an exclusive or that Bethesda been part of Microsoft for years now?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Matt posts something without thinking it through.

Matt who works for a videogame company let’s others know he supports Ukraine.

Don’t be like Matt. Stay away from social media.

 

[GymWolf]

Almost as bad as the gamestop dude asking people if they want to preorder super mario on switch, xbox or playstation.

 

[StueyDuck]

ehh, don't get me wrong, it probably did happen.

but guy on twitter says thing (even if they do work at bethesda) doesn't strike me with much confidence that this isn't just his fabricated little story he thought of all weekend to get his follower counts up on monday. I mean he does have one of those types of twitter bios, we all know the type.

either way does anyone really care? small outlets are either trolling or got it wrong, doesn't need to really be made public and turned into a whole big thing now does it?

 

[mrmustard]

I'm not even surprised and those people are probably listed on Metacritic with their 'knowledge'.

 

[CherryFalls]

He is calling other people out yet has ukraine flag in his twitter name

 

[Mr Reasonable]

This can't be true. No way "journalists" can be this out of touch.

He said "small handful" of journalists though, there are loads of media outlets that I suspect have games coverage done by people who are as casual as it gets. Less likely now, but I can well imagine a situation where it's acknowledged that games generate a certain number of clicks and while it's not worth doing every release, if there's something big then it's worth throwing an article up. So it gets assigned to someone who's paid by the article who may or may not have much experience of anything but COD and Madden/FIFA, but when asked said they knew all about games.

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Even my Pot plants know which Platforms Starfield is on.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

He is calling other people out yet has ukraine flag in his twitter name

Matt posts something without thinking it through.

Matt who works for a videogame company let’s others know he supports Ukraine.

Don’t be like Matt. Stay away from social media.

Why is this a problem?

 

[The Cockatrice]

And yet gaf still praises and buys games based on people who are obviously not gamers, just playing games from start to finish as quickly as possible because its their job. They ignore performance issues, they ignore bugs, they skip a ton of things and then give the game a score based on its popularity/buzz, like if its a nintendo game its automatically above 8. But its ok, keep making review threads and keep making drama over them like children, I'm sure the industry will improve.

 

[Edgelord79]

'It has been known' is not the same as 'people know'. Any idiot with a social media account can do the former, PR's job is to do the latter: to create a clear brand association in people's minds. A very good example would be the original Destiny. It was multiplatform at launch, but Activision and PlayStation were so tight on the messaging that there was a general perception among the public that it was an exclusive. This is the job of good PR and it starts with educating the press and influencers.

It’s a journalists responsibility to know. It’s their job. This makes no sense. A simple google check would have told them this.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

And yet gaf still praises and buys games based on people who are obviously not gamers, just playing games from start to finish as quickly as possible because its their job. They ignore performance issues, they ignore bugs, they skip a ton of things and then give the game a score based on its popularity/buzz, like if its a nintendo game its automatically above 8. But its ok, keep making review threads and keep making drama over them like children, I'm sure the industry will improve.

Alternatively, it's more the other way around. I would personally say that bugs and performance issues are easy to spot, report on, screenshot and meme, but it's more important to evaluate the experience. The last time a game's performance bothered me was Link's awakening on Switch, but it didn't stop me playing.

 

[Edgelord79]

He is calling other people out yet has ukraine flag in his twitter name

Huh?

 

[Elysium44]

He sounds pretty angry himself tbh. Maybe he should take his own advice.

For a PR guy he should know his tweet comes across as 'haha the game isn't on PS5, deal with it'. Which does in fact sound like console warring.

 

[Scotty W]

Further proof that no one is persecuted more than gaming journalists!

 

[Venom Snake]

What a load of PR bullcrap

 

[H4ze]

He is calling other people out yet has ukraine flag in his twitter name

And? You wanna tell me supporting Ukraine is bad?

BTT: lol at everything. How bad can you be at your job to ask for a PS5 code in this case. I can't even...

 

[ArtHands]

Why is this a problem?

They’re trying to start something out of nothing I guess?

 

[reinking]

His calling out "journalists" on twitter is about as unprofessional as those "journalists" not fact checking before asking for a code. Both are kind of dumb.

 

[Bernoulli]

He sounds pretty angry himself tbh. Maybe he should take his own advice.

For a PR guy he should know his tweet comes across as 'haha the game isn't on PS5, deal with it'. Which does in fact sound like console warring.

he isn't happy with the PR and the game reception

 

[LostDonkey]

Kekfield

 

[Mr Reasonable]

They’re trying to start something out of nothing I guess?

I think Russia started it.

 

[Calling 911 Melts Beams]

i wouldn't dare sully my spiderman machine with such tripe

 

[solidus12]

He sounds pretty angry himself tbh. Maybe he should take his own advice.

For a PR guy he should know his tweet comes across as 'haha the game isn't on PS5, deal with it'. Which does in fact sound like console warring.

What’s funny is that Starfield is not the genre defining game of the generation that everyone was promised.

 

[BbMajor7th]

It's really not. It's just a slightly more elaborate take than 'point and laugh at stupid journos lol'. This guy's job is comms and managing the press. He literally says he ignored these people and laughed at them, rather than reaching out and offering a PC or XBOX code. Guy's probably on a six-figure salary and a key part of his job is to build positive working relationships with the media (however annoying or misinformed they might be) not mock them on social media.

 

[X-Wing]

Let me consciously make this console warring trigger comment.
Now let me tell you how you are childish for console warring.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Seems the threshold for what's considered console warring seems a bit lower than I thought.

 

[StueyDuck]

Why is this a problem?

Most of these Twitter Murican profiles use the "hottest topic" flag just to promote themselves and get more views/follows

You just know he had a trans flag 2 years ago and probably a Palestinian one before that.

So the problem is that they aren't really supporting or caring about the war, it's just an ego boost on their personal profile.

I don't think anyone is saying supporting Ukraine who have been invaded is a bad thing....

Maybe I am wrong though

 

[BbMajor7th]

It’s a journalists responsibility to know. It’s their job. This makes no sense. A simple google check would have told them this.

Yeah the blame is on this guy and not the small reviewers who don't do their job properly, anyone who's slightly into gaming knows it's an exclusive let alone "reviewers" or journalists, how bad do you have to be at your job if you didn't know that Starfield was an exclusive or that Bethesda been part of Microsoft for years now?

Or maybe it's the junior coordinator they hired last month, who knows fuck-all about games but needs to make a living? The person who has to hassle publishers and PR teams for codes to hand off to editors and freelancers to review - the person who gets snubbed and mocked by PR directors because they don't follow this industry and just thought they were doing the right thing. I can think of a million reasons why a mistake like this might be made: maybe even because you copy-pasted the request from another email and forgot to change the platform before you hit 'send' because it was Friday afternoon and your head wasn't really in it. Honest mistakes happen all the time. I can't think of a good reason why a well-paid PR director would be such a complete arse about it though, instead of kindly correcting the error and offering a PC/XBOX code.

 

[Thirty7ven]

It’s probably something to due with the fact nobody knows what an Xbox looks like outside of the U S of A.

 

[Helghan]

Most of these Twitter Murican profiles use the "hottest topic" flag just to promote themselves and get more views/follows

You just know he had a trans flag 2 years ago and probably a Palestinian one before that.

So the problem is that they aren't really supporting or caring about the war, it's just an ego boost on their personal profile.

I don't think anyone is saying supporting Ukraine who have been invaded is a bad thing....

Maybe I am wrong though

But why do you care? You don't know him, you don't know his intentions.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Most of these Twitter Murican profiles use the "hottest topic" flag just to promote themselves and get more views/follows

You just know he had a trans flag 2 years ago and probably a Palestinian one before that.

So the problem is that they aren't really supporting or caring about the war, it's just an ego boost on their personal profile.

I don't think anyone is saying supporting Ukraine who have been invaded is a bad thing....

Maybe I am wrong though

Eh, I'm not sure you can draw that conclusion. I don't know anything about the guy, someone in his family might be married to a Ukrainian, or his family might be able to trace their family line to there, or he just isn't a fan of people being murdered because a world leader thought he could get away with a land grab, any number of other reasons. IMO, a small gesture of support for an invaded country or a minority group isn't reason to discount someone's opinion. But, in these crazy times, maybe I'm wrong and it's better to not say anything, not least because you might find out your neighbours are nazis.

 

[Ozriel]

A PR guy says this and people take it seriously? Sounds like some deflection going on. Maybe MS is getting a bit jumpy at the current “varied” reception…

And how exactly is this tweet supposed to deflect from review scores?

He is calling other people out yet has ukraine flag in his twitter name

Is everything OK with you?

Most of these Twitter Murican profiles use the "hottest topic" flag just to promote themselves and get more views/follows

You just know he had a trans flag 2 years ago and probably a Palestinian one before that.

So the problem is that they aren't really supporting or caring about the war, it's just an ego boost on their personal profile.

I don't think anyone is saying supporting Ukraine who have been invaded is a bad thing....

Maybe I am wrong though

Sounds like you’re just projecting.

 

[StueyDuck]

But why do you care? You don't know him, you don't know his intentions.

Ah this is a dumb conversation, "BuT WhY DoNt YoU caRe ThOuGh Durrrrr".

Just contrarian nonsense.

People are allowed to feel how they feel about what they feel, they are allowed to call out stupidity when they see it

and to the rest of the world that isn't the USA, being fake and a liar are shitty human traits and causes alot of distrust and dislike.