Pre-order Early Access has been growing in popularity over these last few years, with more and more game publishers participating in it. At first it was nothing much, maybe at most you’ll get a day early and that’s it. However now I feel like this could open up doors that could potentially lead to them abusing the system, if they haven’t already.
I mean think about it. What is the actual gain in segregating the release date of a game? How are we certain that they’re not simply pushing back the date of the game initial release date and the early access date is in fact the true date in which the game was meant to be released. I personally believe that early access offers are essentially scams that preys on gamer’s plain ignorance and manipulating their excitement in order to sell them a none existing benefit.
And you know this is true when it’s bundled up with the editions package of the game. If that wasn’t the case, then why aren’t all pre-orders guarantying a day or two early? If they’re doing this to reward the players, simply pre-ordering should be enough, because at this point you’re giving the company your money for a product that you haven’t played yet. They know what they’re doing and it mad that we’re walking right into it.
And no one wants to be left out when everyone’s playing the game you’ve been looking forward to playing. Not to mention that the excited fan will want to avoid major spoilers of the game so it’s a sure fire way to get their money in their pockets before a game has even come out.
Lets be honest, this type of exploitation (in my opinion) are mainly targeted at all the people who want to be the first few individuals to make content out of a new game in hopes to gain a huge following from it. That’s the way I see it anyways. Aside from that, it gets worse when multiplayer games are involved. No one likes to jump into a online community where everyone has had a week head start on it. Especially a competitive one.
According to Games Biz Industry, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 4, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Hitman 2, FIFA 19, NBA 2K19, The Division 2 and many more are all games released in the last few months that had two release dates – one for the more expensive special edition which is the early access, and another for the standard version. And it’s working well, too well if you ask me. And you know how things can get. What’s stopping them to pushing it to a week, two weeks or dare I say even a month. We need to start been more vigilant when it comes to these recent business practices.
Some might see this as a way to thank the players who are shelling out the big money for the more high tiers edition’s pre-order, but I still can’t see it like that for some reason. That’s why, I for one try not to indulge in these practice. I’ll wait however long it takes for me to get the game, at the right price and play it then. That’s my thoughts on it. However, I’m open to discuss this and hear your thoughts on the matter.
