Influencers are unlikely to pass harsh judgment in cases like this because they think that their fancy business trips are a reward and they don’t want to miss on the next ones. Their opinions are worthless.

No, influencer screenings preempting professional reviewers are what you do when you want to artificially generate hype from undiscriminating fans. The article I don't think you read even points this out almost immediately:

The move bucks the trend of studios getting ahead of professional reviews by inviting fan-site bloggers and influencers to see major releases in advance and then letting them post (often highly enthusiastic) mini reviews on social media.

That's a fair take, he may be doing it for the wrong reasons... but I'm just on a "fuck all influencers" bandwagon and always have been, so stopped clock and all that.