Do you feel differently about Early Access vs traditional preordering?
If you are open to the idea in specific circumstances, what are those?
How do you decide if a game qualifies?
I’m interested in the community thoughts on preordering and I’d love to have a thoughtful discussion on the matter.
Personally, I’m against preordering, except in specific situations where I want to actively support the development of a game.
I have been thinking about this because there is a game I’m considering preordering from a medium sized studio, but the reason I want to preorder is for the IP, rather than the game and it goes against my typical stance on this. The game is based on my favorite book series and part of me wants to encourage more games be made based on this series. At the same time, the book series has found commercial success and as a whole does not need my help.
I did name the specifics here because I’m hoping to encourage discussion on preordering as a whole, rather than my example, but if you want to know, I’ll drop a comment and we can have a discussion in the comment thread. :)
No, I wait 3 years usually. All bugs fixed, everything works, mods in great shape and price down 50%. Plenty of games older than 3 years also and much lower hardware requirements.
I made an exception for Elden Ring last time but that’s about it.
The only game I’ve ever pre-ordered was FF3/6 but that was because you needed a physical cartridge in limited supply to play it back then.
Preordering a game you can download digitally is the height of stupidity unless you specifically want to give an interest free loan to a creator you really want to support
I pre-order some games, especially table top, through crowdfunding and do enjoy interacting with developers and their early player base during beta testing / early access especially if I’m able to contribute in some way.
No. I’ve pre-ordered a couple in the past though. Diablo 3 is the only one that comes to mind though, also the last one I ever did. I can’t think of any company that has a good enough track record for me to even consider it. Not even Paradox.
Also, since you don’t have to worry about copies running out anymore there is really no reason to anyway. It was only a concern when everything was physical.
I don’t pre-order but I do buy early access games. Unless it’s something genuinely limited edition and unique there is not reason to risk buying before release.
Never, ever buy anything based on IP. That is pure familiarity bias, a trick to make you think it will be good. In the particularly susceptible, it can even create self-delusion and confusion. (X is good, therefore this other thing that licensed the name ‘X’ must be good. It doesn’t feel good, though. No, clearly it is my feelings that are wrong. X is good so ‘X’ must be good. It uses the same mouth sounds. How could it not be?)
A change in medium is inherently a different product and can never be the same as the original. As anyone who has seen a movie based on a book can tell you, there is zero guarantee the movie will have anything more than a passing resemblance to the book *coughEarthseacough* and maybe not even that. *coughWorldWarZcough* Oof, pardon my coughing. The bullshit fumes coming out of the marketing and licensing departments are making it hard to see.
You make some really good points. The game I’m referring to is Osiris Reborn from The Expanse series, my favorite book series of all time.
It’s not exactly an unheard of IP and the developer is what I could consider midsized. That’s why I was leaning towards not doing it at all.
My only motivation is how passionate I am about this series and wanting to see more games, books, shows, movies, etc set in that world. I want to be proactive in spending my money thoughtfully to encourage development in places I support.
Obviously, one preorder isn’t going to change that for this game and a preorder would likely do more harm to me than it would be to the series if I don’t preorder.
I’m usually pretty staunchly again preorders since I think it’s bad for players as a whole (and often for devs too), but, if I’m being honest with you, I would probably have done it if my favorite series was being done by a small indie dev team so they could have as much money upfront to make the game as good as it can be.
There’s isn’t anything particularly wrong about preordering something you’re most certainly going to get day-one, although those are few and far between these days. After all, even fan favorites often come with bugs and glitches day one and you can still encourage producers (and raise kpis) by wishlisting a game instead so they know demand exists. Same for downloading a pre-release demo - they track that.
Early access is usually indie with a few exceptions, so supporting them is good too except when you’re a big fan and would rather see the finished work without spoilers. None the less, support can still exist in other forms.
I personally do neither, but this is more because of financial reasons and my already stupidly huge backlog. The only game I might have preordered this year would have been Silksong and only didn’t because they didn’t permit it. I knew it wouldn’t be released with… ahem, bugs… and that I would certainly play and enjoy it.
Every other 2025 gem was a surprise after release, though.
Never in my life. I want to read the reviews, at a minimum. Too many games with some booshit on launch day, if not at least several months after. I am incredibly psyched for the new Control game but it’ll be at least a few months before I pick it up.
I only preorder a game if I know I want to play it right when it comes out and want to be able to preload the game, and if it comes from a developer I know will not disappoint me (FromSoftware, Kojima Productions, anything from Yoko Taro, etc.).
In the past I used to preorder to reserve a physical copy as soon as it was released, but there is generally no need for that anymore. This makes me both happy and sad, because for all the hassle it was, I kinda miss some aspects of the simpler times. In some ways, I do wish the world could rewind to the 2000s.
Early Access is different from preordering because you gain access to the product instantly, and generally can influence the direction of the game in a hopefully positive way. Providing feedback on what works and what doesn’t is an important part of playing and early access game. A lot of people seem to ignore this.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: [email protected]
Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.
Rules
1. Submissions have to be related to games
Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.
This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.
2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil
No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.
We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.
3. No excessive self-promotion
Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.
This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.
4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts
This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you’re submitting before posting to see if it’s already been posted.
We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.
5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW
Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.
No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.
6. No linking to piracy
Don’t share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.
We don’t want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.
I stopped after Cyberpunk.
No, I wait 3 years usually. All bugs fixed, everything works, mods in great shape and price down 50%. Plenty of games older than 3 years also and much lower hardware requirements.
I made an exception for Elden Ring last time but that’s about it.
The only game I’ve ever pre-ordered was FF3/6 but that was because you needed a physical cartridge in limited supply to play it back then.
Preordering a game you can download digitally is the height of stupidity unless you specifically want to give an interest free loan to a creator you really want to support
I pre-order some games, especially table top, through crowdfunding and do enjoy interacting with developers and their early player base during beta testing / early access especially if I’m able to contribute in some way.
No. I’ve pre-ordered a couple in the past though. Diablo 3 is the only one that comes to mind though, also the last one I ever did. I can’t think of any company that has a good enough track record for me to even consider it. Not even Paradox.
Also, since you don’t have to worry about copies running out anymore there is really no reason to anyway. It was only a concern when everything was physical.
I don’t pre-order but I do buy early access games. Unless it’s something genuinely limited edition and unique there is not reason to risk buying before release.
Never. Why would I pay early for a digital copy of a video game? I can just buy it when it comes out, or better yet, when it goes on sale.
No
Never, ever buy anything based on IP. That is pure familiarity bias, a trick to make you think it will be good. In the particularly susceptible, it can even create self-delusion and confusion. (X is good, therefore this other thing that licensed the name ‘X’ must be good. It doesn’t feel good, though. No, clearly it is my feelings that are wrong. X is good so ‘X’ must be good. It uses the same mouth sounds. How could it not be?)
A change in medium is inherently a different product and can never be the same as the original. As anyone who has seen a movie based on a book can tell you, there is zero guarantee the movie will have anything more than a passing resemblance to the book *coughEarthseacough* and maybe not even that. *coughWorldWarZcough* Oof, pardon my coughing. The bullshit fumes coming out of the marketing and licensing departments are making it hard to see.
You make some really good points. The game I’m referring to is Osiris Reborn from The Expanse series, my favorite book series of all time.
It’s not exactly an unheard of IP and the developer is what I could consider midsized. That’s why I was leaning towards not doing it at all.
My only motivation is how passionate I am about this series and wanting to see more games, books, shows, movies, etc set in that world. I want to be proactive in spending my money thoughtfully to encourage development in places I support.
Obviously, one preorder isn’t going to change that for this game and a preorder would likely do more harm to me than it would be to the series if I don’t preorder.
I’m usually pretty staunchly again preorders since I think it’s bad for players as a whole (and often for devs too), but, if I’m being honest with you, I would probably have done it if my favorite series was being done by a small indie dev team so they could have as much money upfront to make the game as good as it can be.
There’s isn’t anything particularly wrong about preordering something you’re most certainly going to get day-one, although those are few and far between these days. After all, even fan favorites often come with bugs and glitches day one and you can still encourage producers (and raise kpis) by wishlisting a game instead so they know demand exists. Same for downloading a pre-release demo - they track that.
Early access is usually indie with a few exceptions, so supporting them is good too except when you’re a big fan and would rather see the finished work without spoilers. None the less, support can still exist in other forms.
I personally do neither, but this is more because of financial reasons and my already stupidly huge backlog. The only game I might have preordered this year would have been Silksong and only didn’t because they didn’t permit it. I knew it wouldn’t be released with… ahem, bugs… and that I would certainly play and enjoy it.
Every other 2025 gem was a surprise after release, though.
Never: did it ounce or twice with physical games that may sell out at the local store but that is no longer relevant.
Never in my life. I want to read the reviews, at a minimum. Too many games with some booshit on launch day, if not at least several months after. I am incredibly psyched for the new Control game but it’ll be at least a few months before I pick it up.
I only preorder a game if I know I want to play it right when it comes out and want to be able to preload the game, and if it comes from a developer I know will not disappoint me (FromSoftware, Kojima Productions, anything from Yoko Taro, etc.).
In the past I used to preorder to reserve a physical copy as soon as it was released, but there is generally no need for that anymore. This makes me both happy and sad, because for all the hassle it was, I kinda miss some aspects of the simpler times. In some ways, I do wish the world could rewind to the 2000s.
Early Access is different from preordering because you gain access to the product instantly, and generally can influence the direction of the game in a hopefully positive way. Providing feedback on what works and what doesn’t is an important part of playing and early access game. A lot of people seem to ignore this.
Nope… too much history of initial releases being bugged filled shit shows. It is very rare I buy a game sooner than 6 months after it is released.
I buy mainly physical games.
Will I preorder a AAA game that will have 18,000,000 copies sitting around after 6 months? Hell no.
Will I preorder a physical title from a small-medium dev/publisher that I will never see again? If they have a track record of making stuff I like.