Pre-ordering is a dirty word in the modern gaming discourse. Paying for a game before it’s released is a risky move.
But is there something more to this questionable practice? Let us see if a defense can be made for pre-ordering video games!
What is pre-ordering?
First, we must establish what pre-ordering is. It’s pretty straightforward. You pay up front for a video game sometimes months or years in advance and secure a copy or day one access to it, on the day it comes out.
While it may seem similar to Early Access, it is not quite like that. When you pre-order a game instead of getting an early, likely buggy but playable version of a game, you’re paying for something unfinished, relying only on trailers or previews. Of course with the promise that it will launch in a relatively finished state.
Why did this practice make more sense in the past?
Pre-ordering used to be more logical in the past when most people bought games physically. There are only a certain number of copies for a video game on release, and stores also have limited shelf or warehouse space. Pre-ordering not only secured you a copy at or close to release, but it also signaled to both the publisher and the store whether there is interest in the title, allowing them to print more copies and/or allocate more space for the highly awaited games. A win for everyone in a sense – you get the game, the publishers get a bona fide sale with lowered risk alongside an indication of demand.
That figurine looks quite badass!
Now in the modern day most people buy their games via Steam or GOG or other digital stores so this is less of an issue. Still, for people like me who do still want to buy physical editions of games – pre-ordering may make sense. Especially if it’s for special editions of games which are always limited in their production run.
Why do publishers or developers want us to pre-order anyway?
Publishers and game developers do generally want people to pre-order their games. In some cases, it may directly help (if slightly) the development process since it could help sponsor the developers while they are still working on their games.
Indie games sometimes rely on early pre-orders to truly get their development teams up and running. Smaller projects from smaller development teams rely more on our pre-order money more than gigantic AAA games do.
Pre-order numbers also help fuel marketing. Publishers know their numbers and said pre-orders create hype, spark discussions, and drive more sales. All of this while giving publishers data to fine-tune their campaigns.
Let’s pretend this is exactly how it works…
And lastly let’s not forget the more cynical and real, but in my opinion somewhat overstated reason – it is far lower risk to let someone buy a game before reviews and user sentiment are out. I do not think that publishers or game developers cynically want to make bad games to turn a quick profit. I believe most developers do not think like this at all and want to make as good of a game as possible. And yet, the lowered risk is for sure enticing…
The pre-order incentives – price!
One of the ways in which companies want to entice people to pre-order is with a lower price pre-release. Usually in the 5 to 10% range. I think this is one of the better and more honest ways to entice consumers to pre-order a video game, since it is up front, simple, and fair. The publisher accepts a small hit to their theoretical bottom line but gains security and all the other benefits I outlined above.
It should also be noted that in certain rare cases, a game may increase its price prior to release. Pre-ordering at a lower price on top of the percentage cut can sweeten the deal.
The pre-order incentives – digital content?
One thing I like less though is pre-order bonuses, even though things have gotten better on this front than in the past.
In the ancient times many stores or regions had exclusive pre-order bonuses on offer. For example, Gamestop may have an extra weapon skin, while Ozone got an exclusive character skin. People in Poland got exclusive digital content for them, so did people in the United States and others – got nothing at all or some weird assortment of incentives.
This was obviously extremely silly since it meant no one actually got all the extras of the game unless they checked multiple stores and/or countries. In the modern-day things are better because store or country exclusives are a lot rarer. Still, I do not like digital incentives even if they are relatively minor unless they are later offered as a small DLC that anyone can pay for. To give an example – think about how for Metro Last Light, the RP-74 rifle was a pre-order bonus exclusive to Gamestop, but the developers later made it available as a small, cheap DLC so that even people who became Metro fans later on could enjoy it.
Or locking a difficulty mode… either way this is now part of the Redux edition and is a cheap DLC for owners of the original game!
This is acceptable to me since it provides the incentive but doesn’t lock content from future fans forever. Alas, many games forever leave their digital pre-order incentives as an exclusive that cannot be bought later down the line, unless modders fix that in some cases. This is an embarrassing way to handle things and I outright despise it.
The true issue has always been - unequal risk!
The real problem behind pre-ordering a game is that ultimately it is a purchase made on a promise. It is not a finished work that has had time to mature. It is a purchase to play a game the moment it comes out, in many cases before any reviews come out, before drivers or patches have landed – before other gamers have had a chance to test it out for real.
This video isn’t even half of it – Cyberpunk 2077 really was one extremely buggy launch!
There are dozens of examples of games that launch and have major issues on launch day. From Cyberpunk 2077 and its disaster of a launch, to Battlefield 4 or No Man’s Sky or Anthem…
Some of these games did eventually improve. Dramatically at that. Patches, driver updates, DLCs, the developers managed to eventually turn a disappointing launch into something special. But that took time. In the here and now if you purchase those games, you are in for a treat indeed. But many people pre-ordered and played on day one when the situation was not that rosy.
I fully understand how in uncertain economical times, people would rather not pre-order video games. It seems somewhat questionable to give someone some of your hard-earned money before they have actually truly earned it, or at least shown that they actually produced a finished work.
The risk is mostly on the consumer and that just feels wrong, and to an extent it well and truly is. We can give certain softening factors of course. Most digital or even physical stores do allow you to cancel your pre-order and get your money back right up to launch. Sometimes it’s a developer you truly love and as such you want to support their work and are for sure going to buy it anyway at launch… that’s just how humans are sometimes.
Months later there is still no way to buy these items for the game. Horrible decision by GSC Game World!
Sometimes it is because a pre-order incentive such as some cool skin or weapon has us interested. I mean I hate locking down content, but this is an industry practice for a reason – it works.
But we should still be honest enough to admit to ourselves – it is indeed a situation where most of the risk is on consumers and most of the advantages go towards developers or publishers. Even if someone thinks the way I do – that most people who make or sponsor video games do actually want to make good games and are not cynically producing them for a quick buck… it is not a fair and equal situation. And that must be acknowledged.
Why I (sometimes) pre-order
Ultimately, pre-ordering is here to stay. I am unsure if I like it as a practice. I had no issues at all supporting Croteam when they launched The Talos Principle: Reawakened. That game had no pre-orders, it just came out at a certain date and time and that was it – boom, a simple buy it and play it situation. To me that is the best-case scenario.
Or alternatively just give a simple free DLC that can later be purchased for the game as a part of the deal sweetener or a slightly lower price and be done with it. That works too.
I personally still do buy physical editions for my games when possible. They are often cheaper than Steam in my country and sometimes have cool physical items and objects that give me some added value or even a collector’s joy. Plus, some games have very cool collector’s editions!
Due to this, for me pre-ordering makes sense. But while it is not an outright evil or wholly bad practice, it is a flawed one. It is still extra risk and an unequal one at that. Whether it is one worth taking or not depends on the individual in question. If you intend to pre-order, do it thoughtfully. Support developers you trust, but always weigh the risks. Your wallet deserves it.
The articles content, opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in SAPPHIRE NATION are the authors’ own and do not necessarily represent official policy or position of SAPPHIRE Technology.
