Forbes and many other sites often caution against pre-ordering games, even ones that have tremendous promise and have a great track record, like Fallout 4. When you get down to it, pre-order sales only benefit the game developer and publisher. Customers are spending money on a game, sight unseen, without the benefit of reviews or word of mouth, hoping that it will be worth the upfront investment on release. Although most cases work out, there is the risk that you'll get stuck with a disappointing game.
E3 is a massive event, where publishers and developers from all around the world come together for the purpose of showing off their games and convincing fans to pre-order. But, given how gamers have been burned by games like Alien: Colonial Marines, and how we're living in a time when Steam sales offer deep discounts for patient buyers, is it ever ok to pre-order a game?
Why should anybody ever pre-order any game? In a sense, pre-ordering a game is sort like a vote of confidence. Pre-order sales demonstrate the popularity and importance of certain games to the community. Additionally, they generate a sense of hype so that others that might be on the fence about buying a game will be more willing to pick it up. That means a greater potential for fans to all be playing the game around the same time, sharing their experiences with each other, instead of playing catch up weeks or months later.
Then there are those pre-order incentives that are often scoffed on by critics. Some might consider a few extra costumes or bonus weapons silly (which is usually what a free upgrade to the "Limited Edition" amounts to), but there are more meaningful ones. Soundtracks and artbooks are nice, but Mortal Kombat X offered Goro as incentive, saving pre-order customers five bucks. Some games up the ante by offering tiered bonuses, the way XCOM: Enemy Unknown did leading to up to its launch on Steam, which included classic costume sets, some Team Fortress 2 hats, and building up to a free copy of Civilization V. The brilliance of a tiered bonus system is that it practically turns the act of pre-ordering into its own game, and while it's visual graph creates an almost herd mentality. It's easier to put down money toward a pre-order if you know that ten thousand other people have already done so. The rewards themselves are almost incidental.
Arguably, the best pre-order incentive of all is offering beta or early access. Gamers who picked up The Master Chief Collection within a certain timeframe were allowed into the Halo 5 beta. Advanced Warfare went with a Day Zero launch, which allowed pre-order customers to jump into multiplayer a day ahead of the official release of the game. This incentive, above all others, even the silly digital DLC bonuses, might be the single best reason to pick up a game, even though it's kind of absurd when you think about it. You're essentially paying full price for a game that hasn't released yet so that you can play it or a demo of some other game before they release.
Still, even the its relevancy may be passing, with so many games being made available in Early Access or Open betas. Those customers who picked up Evolve, after it had two major weekend beta events, should have known exactly what sort of game they were picking up. Same thing goes for Battlefield Hardline. As we move forward, we should expect to see more games hold limited public betas to help alleviate some of the guesswork that goes into pre-ordering a game.
There are also other factors that will help ease the risk associated with pre-orders. The newly instituted Steam refund policy is a great step, should it remain in effect. Furthermore, customers can always cancel pre-orders at any time, no strings attached. In that sense, pre-ordering isn't much of a risk or gamble. Except, there are instances when customers forget that they've pre-ordered something. So, let's just agree that if you're prone to such forgetfulness, you probably shouldn't be pre-ordering anything until a week or so before the game releases. Set a reminder.
Ultimately, there are factors that make pre-ordering that go beyond the utility of waiting for price drops, or the arguable incentive of digital bonuses. I don't want to have to always have to think and plan around game releases. There's a feeling of comfort in pre-loading a game and having it ready to go on the hour of a game's launch. Playing a game at launch and experiencing the zeitgeist of the moment can be a reward in and of itself. Launching The Witcher 3 for the first time, around the same time as thousands of other people are doing it, has an almost spiritual connection to it. Plus, there's the added bonus of having no spoilers yet on the internet.
Then there are games that I'll probably end up buying no matter what, like Batman: Arkham Knight, even with its insane DLC exclusives, because how can I resist the Harley Quinn Story Pack? Then, of course, there's Fallout 4. If XCOM 2 features a tiered pre-order event, I'll proably end up contributing towards it. For games like these, it's rarely a question of if I'm going to get the game, but a matter of when. Sometimes, it's ok to have a little faith, and to let developers and publishers know that you like what you've seen so far. I'm not saying that there isn't some sense of risk, but if you know deep down that picking up a game is an inevitability, then why not get some free stuff out of it too?
Opinion: When It's Okay to Pre-Order Games
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