We feel a bit sorry for the team at Eidos Montreal - the studio behind Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. They're creating what looks to be another solid entry in the franchise, but the game's been overshadowed by its recently revealed pre-order strategy.
For those that are out of the loop, publisher Square Enix is adopting a Kickstarter-esque campaign when it comes to pre-ordering Adam Jensen's newest escapade; the more worldwide pre-orders that the title secures, the more extras are unlocked for those who have pre-ordered. In a word, the whole thing's abysmal, and for a little while, we were concerned that people were just going to let such a worrying practice slide.
Judging by the related YouTube trailers, though, the campaign's backfired in a pretty big way. The main video's had almost 100,000 views, and it's got just 296 likes compared to a whopping 22,662 dislikes at the time of writing.
Of course, YouTube likes and dislikes can't possibly tell the whole story, but they can at least be used as an indicator. The same video is being torn apart on pretty much every channel that's featured it, too, which would suggest that people certainly aren't happy with such rampant anti-consumerism.
Do you agree? Does the whole thing stink? Take bets on how long it'll take for Square Enix to alter its stance in the comments section below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 31
Deus Ex deserves far better than this.
Man I dunno do the same people angry about this make sure to preorder at gamestop for the store exclusive preorder bonus? I'm more tired/indifferent than angry.
@sonicmeerkat I tend to agree, it's just one heavy sigh rather than smashing up the keyboard. Still, absolutely terrible stuff.
It's annoying but I wonder if Square care. Main question for them will be if it makes more or less money in the end. Everything else is background noise. Just look at their Tomb Raider deal.
Isn't that a worse ratio than the song Friday has? I think is a bit of a sign, as the like button is almost always more popular than the dislike button.
This is almost as bad as the reaction to Metroid Prime Federation Force (Blast Ball). I don't think they want to compare themselves to that.
I still don't understand what they're trying to do with this.
@ShogunRok I can't help but feel the same way. I feel bad for the game itself. It's like when your parents make an ass of themselves in public and your classmates see. You know you're going to get hell the next day at school for something you had nothing to do with.
Preorder schemes like this have saved me hundreds of dollars over the last few years. If anything remotely stupid like this is going on, I don't preorder. Problem solved. I either realize later that I never needed the game, or I wait for it to go on sale for $30. Better yet, if it's a larger game I'll wait for the GOTY edition, like what I'm doing with the latest Batman entry. So, thanks publishers!
I don't understand this outrage, I really don't. I mean, preorder bonuses are nothing new. What's so bad about this model? It's still just plain jane preorder bonuses. How is this "offensive" to people whereas normal preorder bonuses aren't? What's the big difference?
The only difference I see is the bonuses are based on preorder #'s But they're still just bonuses like they've always been. People know the score. If they wanna preorder, they know what they're getting for it. How is this not ok?
I mean, it's smart on their behalf, and I'm not seeing how people are getting shafted with this model as opposed to fixed preorder bonuses. I just don't get the vast majority of outrages in the gaming community. It's stuff I look at and say, "uh ok, so what's the problem again?"
I think the only one that does seem a bit weird is the earlier release. The other things can be released later as regular DLC, probably for a price, but the possibility of a 4 day earlier release is obviously a one-shot thing. The other ones are all clear bonuses, things IN ADDITION to the game itself. With the earlier release it's hard to defend the accusation that they're really just releasing it 4 days late unless enough people pre-order.
I guess what I'm saying is, it's like saying to someone "You can pay extra and I'll give you curly fries and some ketchup". That's fair enough, everyone accepts that. But then saying "You can pay extra and I'll bring your meal out within 3 minutes as opposed to 30 minutes" is taking the piss, really. It's creating a fake kind of situation where they're putting an artificial limit on how long it takes to serve your food that they're then charging you to remove.
It is possible that it's not artificial, that it really does normally take 30 minutes but with extra money they can afford more chefs and waiters. Same for this Deus Ex thing, arguably, it's just very hard to make that sound convincing.
@JaxonH I think the general consensus is that it's pre-order culture gone off the rails. Pre-order stuff is bad enough - what with exclusive DLC, retailer exclusive DLC, and a whole bunch of other needless crap - but when we get to the point where a publisher is trying to gauge exactly how something's going to perform commercially, we're stepping into the danger zone just a tad.
I mean, the basis of this strategy revolves around one fact: if you want extras, you need to pre-order. Everyone has to, otherwise you get bugger all. That's just downright ridiculous. As if DLC practices haven't already carved games up into chunks, we now have to unite and jump into pre-ordering together just to get our hands on all of this junk? It's madness, and if a publisher gets away with this, what's next?
Sure, it can all sound a bit conspiracy theorist at times, but there's definitely something wrong here, and it's a good job that people are reacting negatively to it.
This BS has to end.
If we condone this, what will they come up with next? barf
Meh. Wasn't buying anyway.
@ShogunRok Let me ask you, is there retailer exclusive content for this particular game? That I could understand, but even then, I don't see why people would be any more upset than over, say, SFV.
And if not, isn't it all just fluff anyways? AC had a slot machine last year. Same principle, you roll the dice for extra content.
Idk, I'm not saying pre order content is a good thing, I just don't see how this is any worse than the practices already in place. Is it the not knowing how much bonus content you'll get that makes this worse? That's what I'm trying to understand- what aspect makes this so much worse than what we already see in place, and why is that so much worse?
Truly, this game is dividing mankind.
@JaxonH But no one is upset about this more than sf5. If Capcom pull the same stunt they get treated the same. As for Ass creed everyone was up in arms.
@LieutenantFatman The board don't care, I'm pretty sure at some gaming convention in Japan all the big gaming companies directors got together and decided they would all pull this junk. Everyone of them is a disgrace what the hell are they playing at?
I can see all this ending in legislation in Europe over the next few years not necessarily due to bad business practices but Germany have already set the ball in motion.
@themcnoisy
Oh, it seemed as if people are much more distraught over this than those other games. The whole YT video dislike thing seems much more extreme treatment than the others got
@JaxonH its the ten ton of straw that broke the camels back.
Whoever you are and however you play - dlc, micro transactions and pre order bonuses are the evil triumvirate of the industry. They are unnecessary and whoever you are and however you play they are affecting the experience. I have been enjoying mgs - a little too much in fact - tonight the servers are on..... Its slowed down the game and now anyone in the real world can attack my base yay who the hell wants that in the game? Who? The game is a masterpiece now lessened by that add on. (but you get bonus coins if you join in) How un Kojima like, how lame, how depressing.
@JaxonH
People are much more offended overthis than SF V's retailer exclusive DLC. Even on this very website there were no articles calling it 'disgusting.' I think the difference is one game is PS4 exclusive, another isn't, that simple. SE has kind of done this to itself as well with other idiotic decision making lately but this is no worse than what's going on with SF V. I don't care either way, I want both games still, but the reaction has been typical, fanboy hypocrisy.
@themcnoisy
I'm totally with you- I personally despise forced online connections, ESPECIALLY for single player campaigns. That's what gets under my skin the most. And even more epecially when the online connection affects the performance of the game.
Pre-order bonuses don't bother me so much, as long as it's not retailer exclusive. I was just scratching my head it why this particular instance bothered people so much as opposed to similar practices with every other game out there
This is a stinky move by Squenix. Thought they would be trying to make amends after the TR fiasco, not lower themselves down there with EA!
please don't pre-prder.... If it works this time... other will follow...
@Gamer83 I think it's more the fact that retailer exclusive DLC isn't something new - this is, especially when it comes to a AAA release.
@ShogunRok
New or not, bs is bs.
@Gamer83 Agreed I don't think I'll pre order again. this pre-order BS is getting absolutely ridiculous. I'm starting to think this is the anti-consumer generation.
Haven't played any of the previous Deus Ex games so I'm still on the fence. My friend told me that the Collector's Edition cost $140. O_O
@WebHead
I'm at the same point. I have about 4 games games on pre-order now, including Deus Ex and SF V, both done before I knew the idiocy SE and Capcom would be pulling. I won't cancel but I'm done adding anymore pre-orders. There's a Best Buy, Walmart and Target near where I live. All of those stores get plenty of copies of games. Hell even GameStop gets a lot of copies for the big releases. Very easy to walk in Day One or even a week or two later and get the most recent hyped up product..
Remember the good ol' days when you could unlock extras just by merely completing the game?
@ApostateMage
Feels like another lifetime ago.
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