There’s always one thing that sets the alarm bells ringing: lack of reviews before a game’s release date.

Usually, publishers are happy to hand out review codes for their games before the product is due to hit store shelves, though there’s usually an embargo that’s in place, but they’re normally set for a few days before release.

However, we’ve seen in recent years that if a publisher doesn’t want its product bashed before release, review codes/copies aren’t sent out until release day which ensures that no reviews will be read by the public until publications have given the game in question a fair go.

Ubisoft was quite strict with Assassin’s Creed Unity’s review codes last year because it knew the game was shipping in a less-than-stellar condition, so codes only went out on release day.

This year Activision is taking the same approach with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. Review codes won’t be handed out until September 29th, which is the day the game releases on PS4 and Xbox One. We found this out today from Activision’s PR company that handles code distribution, and immediately it got us trembling.

Of course, it’s not a definite sign that the game will be dead-on-arrival, but it’s a little concerning none-the-less. It doesn’t help matters that the developers behind the Hawkster’s revival doesn’t have the best track-record. Still, fingers crossed, eh?