r/videogames • u/Nickulator95 • Aug 13 '26

Image / Video It's baffling just how many people doesn't understand this

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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It made sense with physical copies that had a limited quantity, now it's an outdated tradition from a bygone era.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/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/Electrical_Rate1026 Aug 14 '26

Not anymore

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u/PhatTuna Aug 14 '26

Since when? Saros was the last physical game I bought, and it had codes for the preorder skins in the box.

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u/[deleted] Aug 14 '26

[deleted]

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u/Electrical_Rate1026 Aug 14 '26

Is it online/multiplayer? No exactly. 

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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/nthomas504 Aug 13 '26

Platninumed it and have no idea what you are talking about

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u/Drummer-Turbulent Aug 13 '26

i can't go 1 playthrough without thugs randomly clipping into buildings. not allowing me to complete a crime request. Recently i had a hunter running in place...

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u/Soulblade32 Aug 13 '26

Ironically, I think the only bug I ran into AT all so far this year was not being able to sprint in Ghost of Tsushima until I turned off my console and turned it back on, which was super frustrating. Yes, there are bugs. It is highly unlikely that reviewers are going to catch those kinds of bugs. It also is unlikely that bugs that are mostly minor inconvienences are going to deter someone from buying a game they have been excited to play for a year or more. Not many games release broken as fuck, the only one that I can think of off the top of my head was Cyber Punk.

Again, my argument is that if you are buying the game on day 1, it makes no difference if you preorder or not. You aren't going to know about bugs on launch day if you play at launch regardless. And I highly doubt people preorder games if they don't plan on playing it for a few months.

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u/Drummer-Turbulent Aug 13 '26

Patience always wins out my friend. there are many instances of games releasing with many bugs and glitches. Heck there are times a game will release and be out for a bit. then they ADD IN microtransactions that didn't exist beofre to skirt reviews. Always wait. you save more and if it's a game you want to play. now it's been fixed (unless were talking Bethesda in which case they probably broke it again)

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u/LessInThought Aug 14 '26

They do these things because idiots keep buying these broken ass games. .

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u/0hMyGandhi Aug 13 '26

Preordering makes absolutely no sense. I did it twice in my life and I felt like a moron.

First time was Halo 3, and the second time was for Killzone 2.

Halo 3 sold like hotcakes, and availability was limited, but not impossible. This was back when customer service lines would be 10-20 deep of people waiting to pick up their preorders.

And it wasn't really for perks. Maybe some merch depending on the store, but mainly it was literally to be sure that you'd be playing with friends on day one.

I'm 35. I don't know how old you are, but if you are on the younger side, I'd tell you that day 1 patches, season passes, and the idea of a "base game" just...wasn't...a thing. On the PC side, sure. But console gaming was always a bit more old fashioned.

Oblivion is widely considered the first game to have DLC, and that was back in 2006, and it was for horse armor.

All that preordering does is incentivize publishers, (not developers) to strip more content away from the "base game" to sell to you as DLC. X360/PS3 era made popular the trend where DLC that would "come out" months later was actually on the disc, but hidden away.

And remember - what you are telling publishers is that their expensive advertising campaigns and sales tactics are working, and you're making companies like EA and their shareholders very happy because you intend to buy the product regardless of reviews.

And again, what people need to realize is that most companies will not grow a conscience and "do right by the players". If you are telling them that youre willing to spend 100 dollars to get a day one ultra edition of a game without waiting for reviews, that's even better.

Now? They say you'd need to spend 100 bucks on a more premium edition of GTAVI to get the "base" game. Rockstar removed features that were standard in earlier games, and are just selling it back to you for a higher price. And preorders will always tell publishers that you as a player condone those practices.

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u/rtakehara Aug 13 '26

I don't have an issue with how people spend their money, I have an issue with companies being rewarded by bad behavior by exploiting the fear of missing out, If everyone waits for reviews before buying anything, nobody would buy anything, a little bit of faith and risk taking is fine, but they make artificial rewards, show no gameplay, even the fact that they take your money before giving the product feels wrong and abusive.

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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.

https://www.reddit.com/r/controlgame/comments/1aocfe2/is_there_a_way_to_get_preorder_and_deluxe_edition/

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u/Impossible-Fig3114 Aug 14 '26

Not to be 'that guy' but they are called exclusives for a reason

1

u/SOSpammy Aug 14 '26

In the case of Grand Theft Auto V the pre-order bonus didn't become available until the game got remastered, and you had to buy the remaster to get it. I assume the same will be for GTA 6.

1

u/Electrical_Rate1026 Aug 14 '26

Not with the Fire Jason in Friday 13 game. That preorder skin was never released at a later stage. It was “sold” for thousands of dollar at sketchy sites.

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u/Noble-Jester Aug 14 '26

There is always outliers, I wasn't trying to say EVERY GAME, in a literal sense, hands out it's pre-order bonuses later on, but a good few have, and it's not a satisfying feeling.

That take also comes from someone who also think Limited Time Items are stupid as hell, and should definitely be available to anyone any time.

Just not the "I paid extra early during a risk period to show my dedication" kind of unique rewards.

2

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/rtakehara Aug 14 '26

I never acted as if this haven't happened for years, in fact I always hated the concept of paying for a product that you don't receive in the same day, I do, however, understand that shipping a physical product over long distances sometimes take some time, and a tracking feature do make the product feel more owned, but to answer for everyone else, maybe they don't know it's nothing new.

In the case of actual limited editions that are actually impossible to be infinitely reproduced then my complaint doesn't apply, of course. Even physical copies with no bonuses whatsoever, they need time to be made and shipped, so it would make sense to pre order so that it can be played at the same time as digital copies.

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u/PhatTuna Aug 13 '26

What's crazy is the worse it's getting, the more ppl that are defending it. Before digital started outpacing physical I remember it being a geral consensus among gamers that pre-ordering games was stupid. And it made WAY more sense to preorder back then than it does now.

And I just learned today that apparently that all digital platforms take all your money as soon as you preorder. WHAT? How is everyone okay with that? Ive never paid money to preorder a physical game. Even today I could preorder Wolverine on Amazon, and my cc wont get charged till they ship the game to me.