Discussion Pre-ordering games in recent years has been pointless (mainly 2022-2023), convince me otherwise

[Order 66]

pre-ordering games in recent years has been pointless since when you pre-order (or even buy a game at launch) you are essentially paying to beta test the game until performance patches are released meaning it can be months before the game is playable for most people.

 

[Eximo]

I can see three positions aside from yours. You are making the assumption that people know what they are getting and actually want to keep the game after they receive it, and they are acting as beta testers. Actual pre-release players may get a chance to influence the potential changes to the game, so there is also that.

You will also have the camp of people that want to be the first to play a game, just for the sake of it, or in the case of perpetual gameplay, an actual advantage in getting in early. This is basic FOMO.

From the developer/consumer side of things, pre-orders and sales lets the developer pre-allocate money for game patches and improvements. If they get no pre-orders, they may consider it a lost cause and put minimal money into the product post launch. In that case you could say that pre-orders may come from people who want to see the game succeed.

On the other hand, I myself prefer waiting for some reviews. A lot of game launches have been all hype lately.

 

[Order 66]

I can see three positions aside from yours. You are making the assumption that people know what they are getting and actually want to keep the game after they receive it, and they are acting as beta testers. Actual pre-release players may get a chance to influence the potential changes to the game, so there is also that.

You will also have the camp of people that want to be the first to play a game, just for the sake of it, or in the case of perpetual gameplay, an actual advantage in getting in early. This is basic FOMO.

From the developer/consumer side of things, pre-orders and sales lets the developer pre-allocate money for game patches and improvements. If they get no pre-orders, they may consider it a lost cause and put minimal money into the product post launch. In that case you could say that pre-orders may come from people who want to see the game succeed.

On the other hand, I myself prefer waiting for some reviews. A lot of game launches have been all hype lately.

I have gotten to the point where I assume that any new AAA game release will be unoptimized when it launches (or right before). Hence the reason why I wait for reviews and/or optimization updates before purchasing a game. I mean, Jedi survivor is (opinion) a great game, and I love it, but it struggled on a 4090 just before launch and used 21GB of VRAM. TH did an article about it.

Pre-Launch 'Jedi: Survivor' Eats 21GB of VRAM, Struggles on RTX 4090

Hopefully a launch day patch will fix these optimization problems.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[DSzymborski]

Preordering, when you don't get a significant discount or other benefit for your risk, has been pointless for a long time. Really, since physical media stopped being a big deal and there's little possibility of actual shortages. Like, when I preordered Final Fantasy VI (then III) in 1994 from Electronics Boutique, that was the only way to make sure I actually got the game on launch day. And I did! The mall (Towson Town Center) was the first place I drove to by myself with my drivers license, to pick up the game.

 

[Order 66]

Preordering, when you don't get a significant discount or other benefit for your risk, has been pointless for a long time. Really, since physical media stopped being a big deal and there's little possibility of actual shortages. Like, when I preordered Final Fantasy VI (then III) in 1994 from Electronics Boutique, that was the only way to make sure I actually got the game on launch day. And I did! The mall (Towson Town Center) was the first place I drove to by myself with my drivers license, to pick up the game.

speaking of FF VI, I have been playing it through emulation off and on.

 

[DSzymborski]

speaking of FF VI, I have been playing it through emulation off and on.

I've certainly played it on emulation a few times!

The Pixel Remaster is excellent though, and it's pretty much the definitive version for me now.

 

[Order 66]

I am glad I didn't pre-order Jedi Survivor because it wouldn't have performed well on my previous i5 6500 and RX 550. I'm not even sure I would be able to find benchmarks for my old hardware for Jedi Survivor.