r/videogames • u/Nickulator95 • Aug 13 '26
Image / Video It's baffling just how many people doesn't understand this
If you're someone who pre-orders games, you're an active participant in the constant enshitification of gaming. Doesn't matter what game it is, you're contributing to a scummy corporate tactic that serves no positive benefit to the player.
It made sense with physical copies that had a limited quantity, now it's an outdated tradition from a bygone era.
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u/New_Cockroach_505 Aug 13 '26
Because people do understand it. They simply don’t care because they already know they want to play the game day one.
Plus reviews almost always drop before release, so if they’re bad you can just cancel the preorder and get your money back.
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u/Polymarchos Aug 13 '26
Critical thinking is a skill fewer and fewer people possess.
If I can't immediately understand the reasoning it must be wrong.
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u/Zalvren Aug 13 '26
Exactly it may be shocking but some people actually don't care about reviews and make their opinion by themselves
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u/Finnsbomba Aug 13 '26
Let's not forget a fair amount of games will give you early access. It's not as much as it should be, but for some people that can be a reason to as well.
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u/appletoasterff Aug 13 '26
Also I ignore reviews anyway peoples opinions on a game will not effect my opinion lol it's why I want to get away from PlayStation so I can get refunds for bad games I buy lol
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u/Snowenn_ Aug 13 '26
Same. If I have decided I will play a game, then I will actively avoid reviews because I don't want any spoilers at all. That includes the possible party members, locations and monster designs.
Often my tastes are different from reviewers anyway. Everyone shat on Forspoken and I had a great time playing it.
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u/Tactical_Squishy Aug 14 '26
I have to try Forspoken it looked cool but reviewers kinda put me down on it
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u/Ok-Caregiver-6005 Aug 13 '26
Also pre-orders show interest in the game and so that can help a company feel comfortable enough to prepare for additional content.
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u/m_cardoso Aug 13 '26
This. People forget preorders are easily cancelable. It doesn't make a difference (for worse and for better) to preorder a game 3 months or 1 minute before release.
I pre-ordered Control Resonant (this one just because Alan Wake 2 had a price increase before release), then they started to sell the steelbook and I just cancelled my digital preorder. And I can still cancel my steelbook if reviews tell me the game is going to be shit (I doubt).
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u/Sayakai Aug 14 '26
Psychologically, there's a big difference. "Not buying something" vs "unbuying something" will have more people keep the product.
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u/Yeseylon Aug 13 '26
Not to mention if everyone waits for user reviews before buying, then there won't be any reviews because nobody has bought it lol
I do agree with the idea that we shouldn't be preordering every game, but sometimes you know you're gonna love a game or you have the money and really want to play a game ASAP. FFVII Revelation is gonna be my first preorder/release day purchase in years.
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u/Impurity41 Aug 13 '26
Additionally the market as a whole will decide whether it moves forward or not. We are unable to tell everyone not to; and there are too many unwilling to stop preordering for any amount of convincing to matter.
So at the end of the day, the only thing that actually ends up changing is the 1 person you convinced isn’t getting their preorder bonuses. Because the whole “enshitification” will happen regardless of 1 person’s purchase. It starts at the company and at the top.
Remember the backlash when microtransactions attempted to be a thing? Let’s not pretend gamers have the ability to stop themselves from making decisions after 20 years.
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u/Somasonic Aug 14 '26
Not to mention preorder bonuses. I don’t get why people don’t get that either.
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u/heymrneat Aug 13 '26
Don’t most preorder now for the preinstall?
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u/Soulblade32 Aug 13 '26
Yes. The people preordering the game were buying it day 1 anyways, it literally makes no difference. OP is just mad and yelling at the clouds.
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u/PhatTuna Aug 13 '26
It does make a difference. On PlayStation, Sony takes your money for the preorder immediately. Why give them your money months early for no reason?
Also on PlayStation, if you want to cancel your preorder and get your money back, you have to contact customer support. They make it as hard as legally possible to get your money back.
Amd doing this for games none of us have even seen gameplay for yet? That just sets a bad precedent and sends the platform holder and publisher a dangerous message.
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u/rtakehara Aug 13 '26
Also sometimes pre orders comes with exclusive bonuses. The exclusive bonuses have no reason to be exclusive, they are maliciously making it limited to make more money and I see no reason to reward this kind of behavior.
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u/Noble-Jester Aug 13 '26
What's worse is over the last six to eight years, they've just started handing out those "Exclusive" rewards at later dates, making it even sillier to preorder.
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u/PhatTuna Aug 13 '26
I often buy physical games like a week or two after release, and they always come with the preorder bonus in the box.
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u/Soulblade32 Aug 13 '26
I guess I just have much less of an issue with people spending their money than others. I see zero difference in buying a game day 1 compared to buying it a month in advance. Some people may have disposable income today to preorder a game whereas they may not on launch.
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u/Drummer-Turbulent Aug 13 '26
Has everyone forgotten how many games released broken and glitched as fuck? hell Spider-man 2 has many glitches that should not still be around
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u/xvsero Aug 14 '26
I'm still a bit annoyed at Control not doing that. They had some preorder exclusives that stayed exclusive and they looked so cool. Apparently you can get most of them on PC with modding files so I guess I'll do that since I have it on PC.
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u/AscendMoros Aug 14 '26
I mean preorder bonuses have been a thing since I started gaming in like 2008. Idk why we’re acting like they haven’t been rewarded for this behavior for almost 20 years.
Also sometimes they are things that will in fact run out. As in a miniature statue for your desk. Stuff like makes sense to be limited runs.
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u/killerspawn97 Aug 13 '26
Counterpoint, what difference does it make giving Sony money for a game 3 months in advance vs 1 hour in advance or heck even 1 day after the fact, the game doesn’t magically go on sale at some point and Sony still it’s getting all the money (or whoever your buying the game from) so it really makes zero offence when you buy the game you know your gonna buy.
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u/chowmaing Aug 13 '26
waiting 1 day after embargo and seeing reviews shows publishers that they cant just release broken games and expect to get paid
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u/Rynetx Aug 13 '26
Some of us like to have an opinion on a product we try and we don’t need some internet guy to tell us how to like a product.
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u/Koribakusuta0708 Aug 13 '26
I'm gonna buy and play games how I have for over 30 years. No amount of reddit bitching will change that.
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u/Refrigerator_Lower Aug 13 '26
I guess I've been really blessed with their customer support then? I've cancelled 4 preorders in the past because when I saw more footage of it, I just realized it wasn't for me from what I initially thought. It was a super easy fast process. Talked to one agent all those cancellations and it was done. No hassle. Also Sony automatically refunds your pre order if the game moves it's date around.
Unless I was a statistical anomaly, I swear you guys just say stuff to push a narrative.
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u/dixonciderbottom Aug 14 '26
If you haven’t downloaded the game it’s very easy to get a refund from Sony.
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u/lawdreekers Aug 13 '26
I agree with you on established IPs. Like I know I'm going to enjoy wolverine. No question, no need for reviews
But then there's games like cyberpunk that are promising the world and under deliver. Thankfully cd projekt red actually cared to fix cyberpunk, but it still left a sour taste in a lot of mouths on release
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u/Soulblade32 Aug 13 '26
Thats fair, but also there were a ton of worrying signs about Cyber Punk to begin with and everyone was giving refunds for it too. I had it on ps5, and was given a full refund.
If the game is genuinely broken then refunds are given, and in the case of Cyber Punk, reviewers weren't even allowed to release their reviews until release day. So day 1 purchasers couldn't have been saved regardless.
But I do understand the sentiment in that situation.
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u/TheEuphoricTribble Aug 13 '26
The Witcher 3 did a lot of the same, no one remembered that when Cyberpunk 2077 released. And it was only in the state it was in based on reputation on consoles. PC was fine. Not great, I’ll give that much, but fine.
People are going to forget Cyberpunk when The Witcher 4 releases in that same state. Then W4 with CP Orion drops. If they want the game they will come.
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u/geaux124 Aug 13 '26
That used to be true but is becoming less true by the day. I'm sure a lot of people said "I know I'm gong to love Dragon Age!" or "I know I'm going to love the next Halo" just to name a few.
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u/ValentineCamille Aug 13 '26
For that and for the preorder bonus (that sometimes mean the actual full game, for exemple GTA6). I really don't understand posts like OP, as if anyone ever ever said they preordered because they were afraid of copies running out ?? OP also forgets you can cancel a preorder anytime you want, so if the reviews are bad or you change your mind... just click a few times and the game won't be yours.
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u/NateShaw92 Aug 14 '26
Thankfully i have seen the bonus still apply to some games on day 1 purchase. Not super common but it's good for those who maybe missed the window intending to pre-order in the preload window.
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u/Voidbearer2kn17 Aug 13 '26
I pre-order games because I know companies track that data to know what games/genres are popular.
Why do you think COD gets shat out on a yearly basis?
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u/nunya_bidnes77 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Its not about some fallacy of digital scarcity. A lot of people want to by a game day one because they want to play it before things get spoiled for them, because they want to play with their friends, and because they don't want to get left behind (espevially in competitive online play).
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u/TufftedSquirrel Aug 13 '26
I'm not a pre order guy. But also, don't a lot of games offer bonus content if you pre order? I mostly play older titles these days.
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u/BigJohn4077 Aug 13 '26
I think this is a HUGE reason for some people. Nowadays, with everyone from 12 year olds to OnlyFans models streaming, the spoilers come very quickly. I mean a game will drop and within hours there are streamer nerds on youtube showing the final encounter with a boss or cutscene. Happened alot with that new Bond game.
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u/Cruxis87 Aug 14 '26
Well you click on them so of course they're going to be sent to you. I haven't seen anything like that in YT for over a decade. I still don't know the plot or the who the bad guy in that Bond game is.
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u/Emotional_Solid6538 Aug 14 '26
People needs to learn the art of avoiding shii you dont wanna see in the internet age
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u/dragonflyy1050 Aug 14 '26
Don't forget us that have the money now but might not when the game releases. Sometimes other games come out and I can afford multiples easier if there payments are spread out.
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u/The_Joker_116 Aug 13 '26
Thank you. I'm tired of shallow-minded whiners immediately going to the "dIgItAl GaMeS wOn'T rUn OuT" bullshit, as if it was the only reason for it.
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u/Thelmara Aug 13 '26
If you're someone who pre-orders games, you're an active participant in the constant enshitification of gaming.
And yet every pre-order I've placed, I've been happy with. Maybe just do better at picking good games to buy?
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u/Mac4491 Aug 14 '26
I’ve literally never regretted a preorder. Even No Man’s Sky.
I’ve got a 100% success rate when it comes to preorder satisfaction. I see no reason to stop now.
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u/Soulblade32 Aug 13 '26
I am going to repeat for the 1 thousandth time;
I do not care if someone preorders or not. If i am going to buy the game Day 1, it does not matter if I preorder it or buy it day 1. Most people don't care about reviews. Nearly everyone makes fun of game journalists because they are fucking stupid. The amount of games I would have missed out on due to reviews that i ended up loving is a decent amount.
I preorder games because:
I have the money now as dispensible income
I want to play right when I get home from work (which is a little past midnight)
Preloading
Sometimes you get bonuses for preordering
I'm buying day 1 if I'm buying a game at full price
I don't give a shit about reviews anyways
You know the reasons that I have no preordered a game for? Thinking it's going to "run out" of digital copies. On top of that, you can refund preordered games if something comes out that you don't like.
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u/hamtaxer Aug 13 '26
There’s also the fact that preorders can actually help support a studio you like.
I preordered a game because, in an interview, the game director was asked “how can people support your studio?” and the answer was “preorder the game.” So I decided, why not. I know they’re not gonna run out of copies or whatever, but I generally trust this studio’s output. It was that simple.
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u/eraserhead3030 Aug 13 '26
This is the real reason preorders actually do matter. If you like developers and specific games the preorder numbers matter a lot when execs and boards decide who/what to cut. Same with book authors, without a certain threshold of preorders getting met they're not getting things published again.
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u/wetmeatlol Aug 14 '26
This pretty much sums it up. I never understand why I see people on this crusade against pre ordering because there’s several reason, many you just listed, as to why someone would.
I don’t pre ordering every game that exists, I pre order the games I know I’m going to play regardless and I work and have a social life so whenever I do get around to playing games, I want it on my PS ready to go without waiting to download it after purchase.
Most importantly…why would I EVER care about what someone else is saying about a game if everything that I’ve seen about it has me excited to play it? If it’s shit well…it’s shit and I got to experience it for myself. If it’s great then I get to experience greatness for myself with no spoilers or other opinions influencing my thoughts on it.
I’m going to go see insidious when it comes out next week, is it probably going to be disappointing with bad reviews? Most likely. Do I care? Not at all because I WANT to see it. A review makes no difference for something I’m set on experiencing for myself.
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u/AmYisraelChai08 Aug 13 '26
I don’t care about reviews and others opinions I’ll play what I want
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u/Artic_wolf817 Aug 13 '26
I ask myself this for preordering: Am I going to buy it day 1 regardless of what reviews say? If yes, then to me there is no difference between waiting for it to release and preordering.
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u/LFC9_41 Aug 13 '26
pre-install, but pretty much. there's also no real harm in it either - you're buying it either way.
now, i think the real argument here is that it's baffling that so many people buy games day 1.
games can very often be purchased at 50% within 6 months, even digitally.
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u/Thrawp Aug 13 '26
Is it so baffling? Story focused games consistently have videos and posts talking about spoilers within a couple days
If it's multiplayer you're looking at a skill gap starting and folks who overplay nit having their friends to play it with.
It's really nit that surprising.
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u/_Mega_Charizard_ Aug 13 '26
I dont think ive ever looked at the reviews of a game and formed an opinion of whether I'll buy it or not based off that. I either like the look of a game and buy it, or I don't.
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u/Hayate-Artwork Aug 13 '26
Post is basically saying "let other people decide if the game is good for you"
Lmao. If I'm getting a game day 1 its because I DONT WANT to see reviews.
I can always resell it after playing if its a physical game, and often do if it wasnt a great experience.
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u/MycologistEvening745 Aug 13 '26
You can’t even just look at any aggregate site now, without constant culture war review bombing bs.
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u/Hayate-Artwork Aug 13 '26
Agreed, just look at the Halo CE remake.
Not perfect or anything, but it was getting absolutely roasted by chuds online because Cortana looked too masculine or something??
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u/Yeseylon Aug 13 '26
Hell, the Steam version of original FFVII is still review bombed right now because of butthurt modders convinced all their mods were forever broken and a couple Day 1 issues that were resolved back then. (New version dropped in January, old version was delisted and anyone who had the old version got the new version for free.)
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u/Limp-Grapefruit-6251 Aug 13 '26
Yeah like, if my favorite game is rated like shit should I say it is shit even tho I loved it ?
Who the fuck cares about reviews? Isn't it a common thing to shit on review sites like IGN ? Review bombing is also a (unfortunately) common thing, btw.
The only reviews that might be helpful are about performance. But even those differ a lot even in the same platform, it happens that some have had issues that other players never experienced (performance wise) despite using the same platform.
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u/YumikuriPF Aug 13 '26
I want game. I see button that lets me buy game. I press. I wait. I play.
I no worry they run out of copies. I know they not run out.
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u/gunn3r08974 Aug 13 '26
Don't forget. You also get Ace Combat 0 for free with that preorder
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u/WhoAmIEven2 Aug 13 '26
I really hope that they don't compromise with the difficulty in 8. I want 30 minute missions with barely any checkpoints, so that if you fail, you fail HARD.
7 was easier than previous games, but I still had to do missions like the one in the sand storm like 20 times to beat it, or the ginormous level near the end where you flew out and bombed boats and such. It was so much fun struggling.
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u/zgillet Aug 13 '26
"Unless, of course, Ace Combat 8 is a waste of money and betrays everything that Bandai Namco have allowed Project ACES to build."
*monkey's paw finger curls*
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u/BigJohn4077 Aug 13 '26
New trailer that dropped yesterday or the day before looks amazing, although I'm pretty sure it's just their replay mode. That IP is always more than solid.
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u/addamee Aug 14 '26
Lol the distance between that second and third sentence… 😆 I got NMS shortly after release and, like many, felt robbed after a little while. Of course Hello has gone on to rewrite the book on how to improve a thing and not charge a single dollar more for it (and I’ve since enjoyed playing it from time to time).
I’m trying to follow Kratos’ advice re: Wolverine but I’m just reallllly looking forward to all the stabby stabby
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u/Automatic-War-7658 Aug 14 '26
NMS made me stop preordering too. Such a disappointment.
And because I have to have this argument every time, no, I don’t care if it’s “good now”. They still lied to make their game’s release look successful on paper. That’s not “good marketing” it’s a scummy thing to do no matter how you look at it.
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u/not2lumen Aug 14 '26
Yeah but there are those games I just don’t care about other reviews, just my own. Those games you are going to get 100% no matter what.
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u/kiwi32356 Aug 13 '26
I like playing games. If there's one that's interesting and it's something I can afford I will buy it
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u/ItsRobbSmark Aug 14 '26
It's baffling that some of you can't understand that plenty of us don't care to have other people tell us what is good or bad and don't sweat over $60-80 enough to worry if we might get one wrong.
You buy how you want to buy and I'll buy how I want to buy... I'm not beholden to consume things in the way that you think benefits you the most, bitch. If a company consistently delivers me an enjoyable product, I'll 100% keep pre-ordering their titles until they stop doing so... $80 doesn't make or break me, if you spent less time on the internet trying to rally people to your bullshit maybe it wouldn't make or break you...
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u/Normal_System_3176 Aug 14 '26
and it's baffling you don't understand this is not just a one and done thing
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u/wizard_tiddy Aug 14 '26
Yeah, this is exactly why nothing is stopping me from preordering this game. Redditors can cry as hard as they want to, I’m playing it day one and it’s going to be awesome.
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u/-Extortion Aug 13 '26
So let other people decide if you should play a game or not? Sheep mentality.
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u/WorthBase919 Aug 13 '26
Okay but I preorder physical
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u/OttoRiver7676 Aug 13 '26
I do too and honestly, recent shifts have made me MORE likely to pre-order than not as most games seems to have extremely limited physical runs dropping mostly around launch. If you want to be sure you get a physical copy, pre-ordering is the mostly safe way to ensure you get one.
The shift to digital also means less people trading in copies as well which means the aftermarket once the run is over can be uncertain too.
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u/WorthBase919 Aug 13 '26
Nowadays it seems if you want to receive an unopened new copy of a game, the only way is to preorder.
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u/Sledgehammer617 Aug 13 '26
Exactly, then you can just play it and resell it if you dont like it.
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u/perfectevasion Aug 13 '26
Oh my God dude shut the fuck up
Theres where more nuance to preordering than how you put it.
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u/No_Elderberry7836 Aug 13 '26
What's to understand?
I don't regularly pre-order games, but when I do it's bc three things aligned: I'm really excited for the game + can predict I still will be when the game comes out, I consider the price fair, I know I'm going to actually have the time/energy/emotional investment to play it Day One.
I will never let other people tell me what games I am supposed to like or buy, so post-release reviews don't matter for my decisions, pre-release ones only matter in regards to technical issues with the game...
Also: my time is limited. If a game that's 'Day One' for me comes out in August, I'm not gonna wait until October to figure out if the other kids say it's good (and likely seeing spoilers in the process).
I'm not 'saving gaming' by making my life harder.
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u/ElderSmackJack Aug 13 '26
Waiting for reviews is just “I want other people to tell me what I think.”
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u/GastonsChin Aug 14 '26
People understand this.
People also understand excitement, support of a studio, and pre-order bonuses.
Do you?
We know we can wait.
The issue is that we don't want to.
Baffling how anyone doesn't understand this.
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u/HerefortheFandoms2 Aug 14 '26
Preordering every game? Absolutely not. Preordering from smaller, independent studios that I specifically want to support? Absofuckinlutely. Speaking of, I should go preorder the plague tale spin off; gotta let asobo know I fuck with them lol
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u/Murky_Option_3418 Aug 14 '26
The only reason you should pre-order is if it costs the same but you get merchandise with it, Or if it's discounted through pre-order.
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u/Smallgenie549 Aug 13 '26
I’ve almost never regretted pre-ordering a game I want to play. I like what I like.
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u/joeyyy30_ Aug 14 '26
It’s baffling just how many people care about other people pre ordering a digital game. Genuinely why does it bother you?
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u/DisMFer Aug 13 '26
This saved me money on the Halo remake. I was going to buy it day 1 but decided to see reviews and after watching gameplay I realized it was a step down from the MCC.
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u/Sledgehammer617 Aug 13 '26
All the reviews I saw were just ripping it apart because Cortana looked to masculine or the fact that there were too many woman marines... Absolutely no help at all when culture war shit makes its way into reviews as it so-often does.
I'm glad I ignored the reviews and just got it cuz its hella fun with friends! Has some bugs to iron out, but overall the experience is solid and the graphics are stunning.
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u/Feather_Sigil Aug 13 '26
I only pre-order a game if it's something truly special, like Control Resonant or a FFXIV expansion for the early access to the phenomenal story
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u/beardedweirdoin104 Aug 13 '26
I’ve never preordered a digital game. I used to preorder the shit out of physical games when you got exclusive goodies for doing it.
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u/Akhanyatin Aug 13 '26
I rarely preorder, but when I do, it's because I'm going to play the game regardless of the reviews. Might as well the get the shiny dumb cosmetic that comes with it.
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u/Proof_Wrongdoer_1266 Aug 13 '26
I dont trust reviews, id rather play it myself and form my own opinion.
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u/No_Education_8888 Aug 13 '26
I don’t care about reviews though. There are games that are horribly rated but I love. Reading reviews will do nothing but taint my opinion. I’d rather form my own opinions
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u/Blueddit-Sez Aug 13 '26
Jokes on them
I’m not buying any “digital only” games,
Unless their true indies (not industry plant ones)
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u/BathbombBurger Aug 13 '26
Wait till it's been out for over a year. Better chance it'll actually be complete by then.
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u/The_8th_Degree Aug 13 '26
Before it used to be ok to pre-order games, they were of much better quality.
Nowadays? Heck no. You can't trust any of the content shown.
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u/SuperSaiyanBen Aug 13 '26
lol it’s baffling we’re still making this strawman argument in 2026.
It’s also baffling that YOU need to wait for a review to tell you if you’re gonna enjoy something or not.
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u/speedyrabbit777 Aug 13 '26
If you know you are gonna play day one then you pre order to have it downloaded early.
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u/NohWan3104 Aug 13 '26
If you actually trust reviews...
Besides, doesn't matter if others don't like it. One of my favorite psp games has like a 4\10 on most sites.
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u/The_Crimson_Vow Aug 13 '26
Yeah, one of my favorite PSP games was torched by IGN. I still love it.
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u/ProotzyZoots Aug 13 '26
My favorite game on the original Xbox(Advent Rising) was blasted on IGN and GameSpot back in the day. I dont care I still think its amazing
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u/Sledgehammer617 Aug 13 '26
IGN absolutely roasted Alien Isolation, I almost didnt buy it. Thankfully I did and I ADORED the game.
I later came to find out that that review is one of the most controversial/infamous they've ever released where the reviewer was criticizing issues that the game didnt even have and was playing certain sections entirely wrong.
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u/Nuryadiy Aug 13 '26
Yeah, I stopped listening to game journalist’s reviews, I prefer the ones directly from the players themselves
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u/otravoyadnoe Aug 13 '26
I usually wait for a while to be sure the game is ironed out and is on sale so it's a win-win for me. But I do occasionally play games day one if I really anticipated their release. And I recently did my first ever preorder of a videogame. I preordered Control Resonant because I sincerely love Remedy and their games and I wish this studio becomes more financially successful. Plus, I wanna be able to install and play it asap because I'm extremely hyped for this game. You may die on that hill acting like I contributed to gaming's enshittification in some way, I'll just disagree and enjoy something I spent my money on instead.
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u/ArchonRevan Aug 13 '26
You're assuming everyone looks at reviews, newsflash most people dont and never have so get bent nerd
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u/VincentVegaRoyale666 PlayStation Aug 13 '26
I can think of 2 reasons. 1, they usually include something goofy for the preorder like a cosmetic and 2, it's nice to have something already paid for by the time it comes out.
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u/Consistent-Ad-6506 Aug 14 '26
95 percent of the time I am absolutely waiting to see a little bit of gameplay and reviews.
5% of the time I preorder. The last time that I didn’t preorder, gamestop said they only had preorders….no extra copies for people walking in like me. So that sucked.
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u/ReaperThugX Aug 14 '26
The only reason I’m preordering is so I can have it installed ahead of time and then it’s playable as soon as it releases.
No one is preordering a digital game to make sure they get a copy before they sell out
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u/chipsterd Aug 14 '26
More games should have free demos. I’m more likely to buy an average game where I quite enjoyed the demo just out of mutual respect for the developer
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u/moonspiderknight Aug 14 '26
I rarely pre order. The only reason I choose to sometimes is if the game looks fantastic, it’s from a developer that hasn’t let me down before, or if I just really want to play it.
I also live in a rural area with dodgy internet connection, so being able to pre download is a huge bonus to me so I don’t have to effectively wait until day after release to play the game
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u/N24_scoRpion Aug 14 '26
I dont need other people's reviews to tell me if I will like a game or not. Sometimes I like the pre order bonus Sometimes I just prefer order bc i want to
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u/Besch168 Aug 15 '26
So OP your advise is either: A. Be dumb and pre-order a game I'm looking forward to and think looks fun and form my own opinion of it. or B. Be smart and wait for all the people who pre-ordered it to write reviews and tell me what my opinion of it should be. 😆
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u/TheActualGrayOwl Aug 16 '26
People ragged on Star Wars Outlaws and Starfield, but I've had more fun with them than I did with fucking Elden Ring.
Reviews aren't everything, especially when half the people who call themselves "critics" just buy into culture war bullshit and make decisions on that alone.
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u/llcoolbean_sf Aug 16 '26
Depends on what the pre order bonuses are really. And that’s a case by case basis.
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u/sonicadv27 Aug 16 '26
And it’s incredible how many more people don’t understand that a lot of stores offer discounts on pre-orders.
I rarely pre-order games and even i know this.
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u/DevelopmentLiving401 Aug 17 '26
Sometimes I want to play a game early. Lots of devs give like...a week of early access to people who pre-order. Or even actual free DLC, not just cosmetics. And if I'm really hype for something, I wanna play it right away.
Plus, reviews are shit. Cyberpunk 2077 for instance. I had literally zero problems with the game at launch. It loaded great, there were no graphical bugs, no magically appearing npcs, no flying cars, absolutely non of the things that all the reviews were complaining about. I had a fantastic time until they "fixed" some of the stuff months later. THEN my game started glitching.
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u/HiddenGamingAccount Aug 17 '26
I disagree with this on some games:
usually it's because I want to support that developer, I already know I'm gonna enjoy the game based off what I've seen/demo I played. and in those cases, they do give you pre order incentives that you otherwise might not get later on. though with most other games I don't pre order and just wait for a sale. but games I know I want to play at launch, I pre-order
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u/PudgyPizzaPuppy Aug 17 '26
If it's a game I know I want to play, I'm gonna preorder it, predownload it, and be there at release to play it. I'm not gonna watch a reviewer, who is looking to see if a product is bad, to see if they enjoyed their experience. I am more capable of deciding if I like something or not than other people are. Eventually I will complete the game, and even getting a few hours of enjoyment out of something is enough to be worth buying it. Why does that not make sense?
The enshittification of the games industry is a much more complex problem than "stop preordering games," and armchair developers are also a real problem in the game/critique space. As long as you are being intentional with how you spend your money, time, and effort, you aren't doing it wrong. If you're excited for a game, preorder it, play it day 1.
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u/FleetFootRabbit Aug 17 '26
People who prefer everything going all digital instead of fighting for options are participating in the enshitification as well.
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u/Giovolt Aug 17 '26
Agreed, I hate the fact that companies run the value of their game based on how many pre-orders which is literally just watching a trailer. Instead of letting the game stand on its own merits on release date
But you can only blame companies. So far its people what causes enshitification, allowing corps to get that far
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u/hu-tao-main0714 Aug 17 '26
I like to see the game for myself, I don't care for reviews. I'm not the type to follow other people's opinions.
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u/ItalianBeefDipped Aug 14 '26
God you miserable losers need to shut the fuck up and log off for a week. Every little thing isn’t a reprehensible moral wrong or “scummy corporate tactic.” You’re just a IRL loser with nothing to be proud of in your life and therefore you go online and post this dogshit take because you desperately need to feel “better than” other people, even if it’s for such a meaningless reason as “I don’t preorder games”
Get a fucking life.
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u/Impossible_Kale2886 Aug 14 '26
I mean that's kinda the foundation on what reddit was build one
What made you join reddit?
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u/grifter356 Aug 13 '26
It's baffling how many people care about how other people spend their money.
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u/The_Joker_116 Aug 13 '26
Why don't you mind your own business and touch some grass while you're at it? The world doesn't have to work the way YOU want it because you feel others' spending habits affects YOU. Doesn't matter if I pre-order a game I want or not, if I know I'm 100% going to play it, I'll order it in advance and make space for it in my budget early and then I can access it as soon as it's released. The "run out of digital copy" thing is stupid, overused and shows how little thought whiners put in this stupid debate.
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u/BadMunky82 Aug 13 '26
The digital copy is the problem... I pre-order a physical if anything. Otherwise, you right.
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u/jkpancake Aug 13 '26
I know it happens because of the fear of missing out but like most big games come out broken and it takes a few weeks to a whole year before it is patched. It's why I just wait because by the time it is playable it will go on sale for like $40 if not less
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u/Robdul Aug 13 '26
If it wasn’t for the lowkey toxic practice of locking certain bonuses behind preorders there would literally be no reason to ever preorder anything ever again.
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u/Different_Target_228 Aug 13 '26
The fun thing about this is if you go to movie subreddits, half the people call reviews worthless.