Kaile Hultner wrote a response piece to an article by Grace Benfell called “Silksong Hastens the Death of the Critic”. In it, she argued that Team Cherry’s decision not to give games media early access codes for Silksong represented a deterioration of criticism as a profession, an art, and as a service to the audience.
However, Kaile disagreed with that conclusion:
By nature of our calling, critics are inextricably linked to the art we’re critiquing in at least one relational sense; without the art, there would be nothing to critique. But beyond that fact of our existence it feels strange that we should be beholden to the capitalist forces that produce some of the art we appraise, just because by letting them have that control we get a little bit closer to both the art and its—and our—audience. It’s like we’re all jockeying to be tour guides at the world’s most extractive museum for a day rate of less than $100. And, ironically, the more control we give those forces the easier it is for them to destroy us, if they wanted to.
As always I could quote a ton from this but you’re better off reading the whole thing. I particularly liked some of the ideas of what a future without this critical rat race could look like:
What might that page-taking look like? Well, maybe it looks like a turn away from the embargo system, a refusal on the part of outlets and critics to engage with games given to them early for free. Maybe it looks like longer deadlines, a commitment to less crunch imposed on freelancers or staffers, or an increase in pay (and overtime for salaried workers!) if crunch must happen. Maybe it looks like conversations between writers at a given outlet, or between outlets. Waiting, moving slowly, collaborating, not being the first with a take, no longer participating in quid pro quo; these are all avenues available to mainstream critics and the outlets that still employ them—if they’re willing to take that kind of risk. The death—and life—of games criticism is a labor issue, and it’s one that must be addressed by games media, not the studios and publishers it covers.
Perhaps no early access isn’t the issue but a symptom of an issue most people aren’t examining. A lot of publications are falling apart and some of those laid-off workers are reforming in their own image but that can’t last on its own and it clearly shows that the system as it is isn’t sustainable. Critics will still be around no matter what though.