Game Pre-orders on the Decline

I saw this story yesterday and thought it was great news.

www.metro.co.uk/2015/04/23/video-game-pre-orders-in-sharp-decline-in-the-uk-5163695/

Each to their own, and no offence to anybody who does pre-order, but I've never personally seen the point of pre-ordering from high street stores and don't know why it's become such a big thing over recent years, well I do actually, it's great for the publisher and retailer with a guaranteed sale. I don't see what the gamer gets out of it though, the so called pre-order "bonuses" are almost always naff and no game will sell out at launch anymore. The fact that MCV are calling the decline "a crisis" shows how lucrative it is to the retailer.

And perhaps if pre-orders continue to decline, retailers and publishers will be forced to lower prices without the security of high pre-order numbers.

I think they are declining because we have reached peak saturation with pre-order DLC/Collector's edition bollocks. I've severely cut back myself and switch to making digital purchases for around 50%-70% of my games.

I'd say the only times you need to pre-order a game is if you are buying a physical copy of a lower budget and/or obscure game from your local Game to guarantee they get stock of it. Otherwise you are fine because nowhere is going to run out of copies of a game like The Witcher III on launch day.

Sadly most publishers will take this shift and the signal to start pushing more freemium style DLC into full priced games to "make up the cost of lost sales from a lack of pre-orders." Which is just pure evil and terrible for end users in the long run.

I think also people are looking to spend less money so are waiting for price-drops or slightly lower prices nearer release date.

Yeah some games drop in price so drastically not so long after release that you kind of wonder if you should get the game you want straight away or grit your teeth and wait a few weeks.

Then with a few games having been promised to be the most amazing thing ever and then having been quiet mediocre on release with a review only cropping up a few days after people already have it I guess a lot of people are stopping and saying you know what instead of pre-ordering I will wait for a review then if it gets praised I will buy it cheapest I can find, if its not so good but still interests me I will wait for a price that reflects its quality

The only pre orders I do are when it's a good price or an offer. For example, I've preordered Project Cars for £35. I think Destiny was the last one I preordered because I got a good price, and Watch Dogs before that for the same reason. I traded Destiny in for a profit 5 weeks later.

I'm must still be in the minority then as I will pretty much pre-order any game that interests me. It's not as if I'm bothered/swayed by pre-order DLC or bonuses and very rarely do I grab LE's either so there's really no reason for me to continue pre-ordering. I guess it's just habit or maybe it's due to the fact that I like to be one of the first to play a given game, especially as most online retailers will get a game to you a few days early.

That said, I do tend to enjoy a fair amount of niche games so that may explain some of the reasoning behind continuing with pre-orders.

I would agree that I can't understand why anyone would pre-order from a high street outlet given how they continually rip-off consumers, then again, I don't understand why anyone would purchase from those outlets AT ALL (pre-order or not) and I can't remember the last time I actually visited a bricks and mortar games retailer.

I have only ever pre-ordered a few games on Amazon when I saw them for a good price. I've never really seen the point otherwise. I can't remember going into a game shop and any new title being out of stock.

I'm trying to think what the decline in pre-orders tells us. Nothing really. The decline in game sales overall would be a newsworthy story but this really isn't.

I used to preorder almost every game I bought. I have really dropped off pre ordering, but probably most likely because I've not bought any games on release since AC: Unity back in October. 

I stuck in preorders for Witcher III and Batman Arkham Knight aaaaaaaages ago, more for the fact that I knew I definitely wanted both games. And incidentally having done so, Amazon reduced the price of both games, meaning I've got a cheaper price, but the games are now currently more expensive to preorder now than they were, so that is a perk. 

And again, Batman comes with a Harley Quinn story mission, you don't get unless you preorder, and that IS quite appealing, but I preordered it before that was even announced, and is not the reason why I preordered, but its nice to have it all the same. 

As usual, I think a blanket I agree/don't agree is too black and white. It just depends on many factors, and individual likes. I think the reason I'm not preordering, is more due to the fact that there's nothing coming out that I really feel like I really want to buy...and that's more worrying!

PorcusHawk wrote:I'm must still be in the minority then as I will pretty much pre-order any game that interests me. It's not as if I'm bothered/swayed by pre-order DLC or bonuses and very rarely do I grab LE's either so there's really no reason for me to continue pre-ordering. I guess it's just habit or maybe it's due to the fact that I like to be one of the first to play a given game, especially as most online retailers will get a game to you a few days early.

That said, I do tend to enjoy a fair amount of niche games so that may explain some of the reasoning behind continuing with pre-orders.

I would agree that I can't understand why anyone would pre-order from a high street outlet given how they continually rip-off consumers, then again, I don't understand why anyone would purchase from those outlets AT ALL (pre-order or not) and I can't remember the last time I actually visited a bricks and mortar games retailer.

I think pre-ordering online is a bit different, as you say PH you often get them a day early and they're usually cheaper from online outlets. I was talking more about the high street, especially GAME, where you have to pay a £5 deposit just for the privilege(?), and you'll pay the highest price on release day.

I've just pre-ordered two (Batman and Uncharted 4) online for £70 with Tesco (2 for £80 deal, with a £10 off  code), as I figured a) I'd want them at release and b) £35 was going to be as cheap as I'd find nearer release.

The original    reason for pre-ordering - securing stock - has pretty much disappeared since games switched to disk.  I remember on the N64 there being lines of people queueing up at Electronics Boutique at lunchtime when Ocarina of of Time came out and that regularly stocked out, presumably because manufacturing a cart is more involved than pressing a disk.  These days, it is rare for a game to stock out unless it is niche or if it has been unexpectedly successful.

I do pre-order games in GAME too though, if there's a decent pre-order bonus.  Over the last couple of years I've ordered three because of those - Majora's Mask (for the paperweight that now  sits on my work computer), LoZ Link Between Worlds (for the fantastic 3DS cardholder in the shape of a Zelda chest that makes the da-da-da-DUM sound when you open it) and Alien Isolation for the original Alien cast mission (worth it, I think - Alien is one of my favourite movies).  I ordered a further one - Mario Kart 8 - that did have a pre-order bonus  (a Wii-remote Wheel) but I pre-ordered just to make sure I had a copy, as Nintendo games sometimes stock out, even now they aren't on carts.  So, generally speaking, it depends on what's on offer and for what game -  a bit of extra DLC won't do it for me.

The original cast DLC was the only decent pre-order bonus I've heard of recently. As it turned out it wasn't particularly great in itself but it was still cool seeing the likes of Parker, Dallas and the rest if you're an Alien fan.

On the subject of pre-orders I've already had two e-mails from retailers about pre-ordering COD:BLOPS 3, and the likes of IGN and Gamespot, no surprise, are also advertising that you can now pre-order it. It's not out till fucking November! 

Interestingly Witcher 3 has racked up over 1 million preorders now .

Wolvieware wrote:Interestingly Witcher 3 has racked up over 1 million preorders now .

The exception that proves the rule?

That game has built up a head of steam it seems to me - it has really broken out of the RPG ghetto. Not sure why (being good isn't reason enough) as while I understand the previous game was well-liked, it was still in that ghetto.

sorenlorensen wrote:That game has built up a head of steam it seems to me - it has really broken out of the RPG ghetto. Not sure why (being good isn't reason enough) as while I understand the previous game was well-liked, it was still in that ghetto.

It is a game that is really pushing the PS4/Xbox One and making the most of the power available to them. I think a lot of people will be buying it for a technical showpiece as well as being a game.

I am really on the fence with this one. It is getting really good reviews and I even have it pre-ordered (there was a trade in deal thing were I ended up with an extra couple of quid if I pre-ordered it). But I am still playing Bloodborne and I have Dragon Age: Inquisition also sat on my shelf glaring at me and judging me for my failure at playing it.... I just don't know if I can justify another big sweeping epic of an RPG at the moment

I know I'm getting it as a birthday present, 23rd May if anybody's interested , from my partner. She's going out to get it sometime next week when it's in the shops though, and isn't going to let me play it until my actual birthday! 

It looks an amazing game so I can see why so many people want it, but I haven't even really started Witcher 2 yet so don't think I will jump on board even though seeing the graphics for it was one of the things that made me want to get on board the new generation of machines.