Most major video games have internal mock reviews conducted during their development, giving the studio and publisher an idea of what the general public will think of a game ahead of its release. According to one insider, internal mock reviews for Xbox’s upcoming Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga have put the game in the ‘low 90s’.

As shared by industry insider ‘Nate the Hate’ during the DirectXbox podcast, in discussing the upcoming first-party Xbox releases planned for 2024, Nate had this to say:

“Last year I was hearing that the internal Metacritic score that Microsoft had for the game was in the 90s…at least internally that is what they’re anticipating – not sure if it's fully based on mock reviews, it could just be internal mock reviews.”

He continued, “Not sure if it's been external mock reviews but if that is what they're projecting is something in the low 90s that would be their highest Metacritic game since Gears 3.”

While a Metacritic score in the 90s would likely easily put Hellblade 2 in the discussion for 2024 GOTYs, it is worth noting that mock reviews are not always accurate. In Microsoft’s case, last year’s Redfall was said to have scored “double digits” higher in its mock reviews compared to the game’s actual reception (which landed at a 56 on Metacritic). As such, while it is an exciting prospect, players and fans should still keep their expectations somewhat in check.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of mock reviews? Are they a useful resource? Do you care about a game’s aggregate review score? Let us know down below.

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