Pre-order incentives have become a key part of the video game industry, for better or worse. Nevertheless, Square Enix's augment your pre-order program for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided caused even more controversy than usual, and thus the company has decided to cancel it.
Originally the augment your pre-order campaign was meant to unlock additional incentives as individuals placed more pre-orders for the game. A series of tiers would unlock over time, adding things like the OST, extra in-game missions, and a digital comic book. The final tier would even push the release date of the game forward by four days.
All of this could be avoided by purchasing the $139.99 Collector's Edition, which is still available. Fans were understandably upset at the program, as it locked content behind pre-orders in such a way that it felt like some kind of hostage situation. Prospective buyers shouldn't have to pre-order a game to gain access to extra goodies like a soundtrack or artbook.
A new post on the Deus Ex website addresses the outrage over the program and the reason for its cancelation.
"When it was first conceived, we wanted the program to give you more choice about what you received in terms of pre-order incentives, because we've seen in the past that when we choose those packages ourselves and split them across regions, it has caused frustration," the post states. "We quickly noticed that this approach created even more frustration than before, resulting in a resounding amount of negative feedback."
Now that the program has been closed, anyone who pre-orders the game or buys the Day 1 edition will gain access to all of the incentive content. In addition, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be available to everyone when it comes out on February 23, 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
