Emily Short stopped reviewing the comp after people complained about negative reviews (and stopped writing for Rock Paper Shotgun), The Breakfast Reviews started getting overwhelmed with the number of entries, and Thomas Mack is an entrant this year. Sam Kabo Ashwell and Katherine Morayati (and healy) aren’t reviewing blurbs this year.
On the other hand, Verb Your enthusiasm and the Short Game podcasts are covering stuff, and there are several new reviewers doing great work. There’s even a food-based reviewer (Interactive Licktion).
Last year total there were 792 reviews, of which 599 were public.
This year, halfway through the comp, there are 755 reviews, of which 478 are public.
So it could just be that everyone you’re familiar with stopped reviewing and a new group has moved in.