In 1 Peter 4 we read that God stands ready to judge both the living and the dead … “For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.”
[my own emphasis added at the end of v.6]
To me, that speaks pretty conclusively about populations from other eras or geographies that had no chance to encounter the good news while they lived. And though verses such as the above are not many, this one is by no means isolated. Both Peter and Paul thought this way.
I would caution against attempting to “resolve issues” by simple verse counts - turning any decision into a contest of which column (‘pro’ or ‘con’) has the longer list of references. That treats the bible as some sort of flat book of factoids - many paradoxical or contradictory when read as such - that needs to be resolved by a verse count. A much more faithful way to read the Bible as a Christian is to read it as a whole - giving special attention and privilege to the New Testament, and even the highest privilege of all to the life and teachings of Christ presented in the four gospels, letting His spirit guide you toward faithful obedience. Obedience to the guidance of that Spirit as known through the gospels is our highest need - the one thing that will direct us to all necessary truth and that is our salvation. After that, you are able to “set aside” or not be disturbed by apparently contradictory verses that put some in a tizzy, caricaturing God as a moral monster or a tyrant that makes the average person look [actually be] more righteous in comparison. Anyone or any thing that would have you believing evil of God you can reject out of hand as something that, at best, simply awaits clarifying understanding, or at worst, needs to be scorned and rejected as a devilish doctrine. Whatever verses call us toward (and these are by no means isolated only to the New Testament) … things like gentleness, tenderness, mutual affection, mercy, yes - even ‘tough love judgement’ sometimes - but always with the object of restoring your brother - all these things we are called to do … God does them even better. Perfectly in fact. The more I read scriptures, the more God’s saving character, God’s passion for redemption comes to the foreground, and the more his alleged austerity, his alleged eternal hate toward many fades away as a tottering doctrine based more on us trying to fashion a god patterned after our own vengeful sentiments rather than us seeking to be fashioned after God - to be perfect as He is perfect. Even though plenty of passages can be found to fill the ‘vengeful god’ side of the ledger, seek instead the Spirit revealed in the gospels, and the truly good news brought by that Spirit. Only then do we begin to read the bible aright.
[It needs to be added that the above is not a simplistic formula such as “anything found in a gospel always ‘wins’.” There are plenty of words straight from Jesus’ mouth that, taken in isolation (or with no recourse to deeper understanding or contextual or literary considerations), would add to the ‘moral monster’ side of the ledger, and conversely there are plenty of necessary and clarifying understandings to be gleaned from Paul, other apostles, and even from the old testament. All I’m saying is that, we should be steeped in all of the recorded words of Jesus and his followers to help shape that same spirit within us as an overall guiding principle for who God is. And that Spirit is what guides us toward a loving and righteous God that reaches out to all of us, and to reject the moral monster god who would in no way be worthy of any worship whatsoever.]