10 Pre-Order Bonuses That BROKE Their Video Games
2. Deus Ex Mankind Divided - a bunch of stuff because Square Enix dropped the ball
Where to begin?
The pre-order system for Mankind Divided soured potential buyers and dug a hole the game would have to work hard to climb out of.
Eidos Montreal and Square Enix have to be given credit for trying something new with their 'Augment Your Pre-Order' system. Unfortunately, much like Icarus, they flew too high and their wings melted in a flurry of disgruntled online criticism.
In what was said to be an opportunity for pre-ordered games to be unique to each player, but appeared more like a blatant crash grab, Square Enix designed five tiers of pre-order goodies buyers could choose from. The more people who pre-ordered, the better the possible rewards would be. Gamers were not only being asked to gamble on the success of the game with their pre-order, but were being strongly urged to encourage other gamers to do the same.
The reaction was...bad. So many people complained and the move garnered so much negative attention that Square Enix cancelled the whole idea and gave everyone who pre-ordered everything in the tiers anyways.
While the game did receive positive critical reception, the pre-order system remained a sore point and hurt game sales.