What is going on with reviews on the Xbox store?

Hi all,

Full disclosure, I posted a similar post on the Series X/S reddit page, I am just trying to get an answer from someone who might be in the know.

Has anyone else noticed that reviews on the Xbox store are not showing up like they did before the new gen launch?

Before the launch of the Series X and S (the new operating system for Xbox too), you could see reviews for every game, and reviews were posted relatively soon after a game released. Now that doesn't appear to be the case, but only for certain games .....

Specifically, if you go to new games now (Destiny Beyond Light, Assassins Creed Valhalla, etc.), they no longer give you the option to leave a user review (same with Cyberpunk). If you go to older games, you can sometimes still read older reviews there. What makes this even more concerning, some games (Immortals Phoenix Rising) seem to allow user reviews, while others don't seem to provide that option. Does anyone here have insights into what is going on?

Is this a deliberate attempt to silence reviews for big budget triple A games at the developer's discretion, or a blanket policy from MS to no longer have reviews early in a game's release?

If the former, this really reeks of anti-consumerism and a blatantly shady business practice. If the latter, then it should be communicated clearly, and applied equally across all games.

Has anyone else noticed these changes? Have they been covered by IGN, Gamespot, or other gaming news websites?

Did this just fall under the radar for most people?

Even worse, I jumped on my PS4 and noticed that Cyberpunk 2077 has an "overall" star rating provided (which I assume is based on user reviews).

Given the shift towards more pro-consumer practices that Phil Spencer has been pushing, this seems like Microsoft is taking quite a few steps back.

submitted by /u/alazar14
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