After a recent article from Polygon, I wanted to respond to the recent outcry over game pre-orders and exclusive pre-order bonus downloadable content. There seems to be a purveying viewpoint that gaming publishers are committing a crime by utilizing pre-order bonus content that hurts the consumer in the long run. Personally, I disagree with that view. Actually, pre-orders or pre-order bonus content are not hurting the industry or the consumer. The actual problem is major game titles getting rushed to the shelves and not getting an extra level of polish.
Are pre-order bonuses a sales tactic? Absolutely. But what is so wrong with the strategy? Sure, a company might make a bad or disappointing game, but video game publishers publish games that they are trying to sell. Ultimately, it is up to the consumer to decide if the purchase is worth his or her hard-earned time and/or money. As the old cliché says, “You get what you pay for.”
For some gamers, pre-ordering Alien: Isolation in order to get the first crack at downloadable content based on the classic 1979 Alien movie is useless. To other fans, it could be the move that clinches their purchase of the game. It is not necessarily a bad thing to offer the content as a free pre-order bonus. The content is there for people who decided to pre-order the game and pay out money early. More often than not, most pre-order bonuses are still made available for purchase later. Another example: 2K Games just announced that pro wrestling icon Sting will be a pre-order bonus character for WWE 2K15. Does anyone really believe Sting will not be unlocked and available after the game comes out? No one is being forced to pre-order the game just to get Sting. Is it perhaps an obvious sales tactic by WWE 2K15 to buy the game? Of course. That is exactly what 2K Games should be doing. I am a huge fan of Sting and pro wrestling. Sting’s inclusion in the game as a pre-order bonus encourages me to definitively want to pre-order and buy the game so I will get the first crack at playing with Sting.
Game publishers like 2K Games are not in the business of letting consumers see reviews to see if they want to buy the game. That idea is ludicrous, and in the eyes of a hardcore gamer or writer, might be disappointing. It is not the pre-orders that are damaging or hostile to the consumers, so much as publishers that rush out inferior products before they are ready. As a result, games are bugged out and broken at launch. Pre-ordering games is not the cause of the problem.
The pre-order bonus content that a consumer gets for free is deserved because that consumer invested in the game early. The beauty of all this is that the system is voluntary. You do not have to pre-order Alien: Isolation if you are cautiously optimistic due to Colonial Marines. SEGA confirmed that the Nostromo Edition DLC will be available later on. So, why should the material be free later on if a gamer discovers the game is great, loves Alien: Isolation and wants the Nostromo Edition DLC? That defeats the incentive of a pre-order bonus. Ultimately, there is no crime in pre-ordering a game for shiny or pointless bonus content, however misguided, or just deciding to say, “No thanks. I will wait until I am sure.” Gamers have free will to choose one or the other.
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