FORMATS, DATES & REVIEWS
What a review score covers
Some linked release information has been updated or flagged for review. The examples below retain their stated snapshot date; release pages show newer checks.
A score describes a particular collection of reviews. The provider, platform or season, scale and checked date explain which collection you are looking at. NextUpIQ keeps these labels beside the number because two scores for the same title can cover different reviews.
A console launch can have several review scores
Dune: Awakening has a console release entry in the catalog, but its review results cover more than one platform. In the October 5, 2026 snapshot, Metacritic lists 80/100 from 20 PlayStation 5 critic reviews and 81/100 from five Xbox Series X critic reviews. Those are separate platform results, with different review pools.
The OpenCritic listing shows an 80/100 Top Critic Average for a title covering PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The page supplies a total of 93 critic reviews. That total is not a verified count of the top critics used in the average. A cross-platform result should retain its cross-platform label when shown alongside a particular console launch.
| Published metric | Scope | October 5 snapshot |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic Metascore | PlayStation 5 | 80/100 · 20 critic reviews |
| Metacritic Metascore | Xbox Series X | 81/100 · 5 critic reviews |
| OpenCritic Top Critic Average | PC / PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X|S | 80/100 · 93 total critic reviews; top-critic count not verified |
Rotten Tomatoes reports approval and average ratings separately
Digger illustrates why the metric name matters. Its October 5 Rotten Tomatoes snapshot shows a 51% Tomatometer and a 6.0/10 average critic rating. The percentage describes how many reviews are positive; the rating average describes the ratings attached to rated reviews. Converting 51% into 5.1/10 would discard that distinction.
The same page shows a 72% verified-audience Popcornmeter and a 3.7/5 average audience rating. Both use the verified-audience scope. The published audience count is “500+ Verified Ratings,” a range rather than an exact total. Written audience reviews and submitted ratings are different counts.
The critic page reports 272 total critic reviews. It does not separately establish how many of those contribute a numerical rating to the 6.0/10 average. NextUpIQ labels that count as total critic reviews instead of presenting it as the rated-only denominator.
| Digger metric | What it expresses | October 5 snapshot |
|---|---|---|
| Tomatometer | Percentage of positive critic reviews | 51% |
| Average critic rating | Average of rated critic reviews | 6.0/10 |
| Verified-audience Popcornmeter | Percentage of positive verified-audience ratings | 72% |
| Average audience rating | Average verified-audience rating | 3.7/5 |
Release dates also have an edition scope
Gears of War: E-Day is listed for general release on October 6, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S and PC. Xbox Wire separately identifies October 1 as the start of Premium Edition early access. An early-access date and a general-release date describe different access conditions even when they refer to the same game.
In release details, the launch platforms identify where the release is scheduled. A reviewed-platform label identifies which version a score covers. These labels answer different questions. A review link without a verified number means that NextUpIQ has not confirmed a score for that release; it does not establish that reviews are absent.
Sources & scope
Numbers are dated examples verified from the linked provider pages on October 5, 2026. Scores and review counts can change; the original scorecards show later updates.
- Dune: Awakening — Metacritic platform scores · Checked 2026-10-05
- Dune: Awakening — OpenCritic title scorecard · Checked 2026-10-05
- Digger — Rotten Tomatoes scorecard and rating averages · Checked 2026-10-05
- The Coalition / Xbox Wire — early access and general release · Checked 2026-10-05