Stop it

...b-b-but I won't get the exclusive hat for my character!

Downvote edit: Maybe you didn’t like that reality with people living through high inflation but it is what it is around here. It becomes still more expensive than a preorder even with a discount after a few months.

If I could spare the cash at the moment, I’d preorder Spidey 2. I’ll preorder Marvel’s Wolverine when it opens as well. I don’t trust EA games to deliver but I’m positively biased towards Insomniac & Naughty Dog, for example. They never disappointed me.

One solid reason for preordering them in my country is the fact that prices go up at least 1.5 to 2x when they release. So if I care about the game, I do so to lock in a much cheaper price. Yeah, inflation and third world problems. So there’s that.

Personally, I still preorder games but look to use retailers with easy cancellations that do not bill until shipment, and have lowest price guarantees. I’ve occasionally saved a decent amount of money by preordering on say Amazon because a game I had an order on momentarily dropped right down in price before being bumped back up, and I payed the lower price. Collectors editions for less than the standard, and the like. In more recent times as an example, I got Far Cry 6 Gold Edition (with season pass) for $79AUD day one where the retail was $149AUD for that edition.

It’s quite predatory, but sometimes the preorder bonuses are alright too.

If it’s looking like a game will suck, or my preorder price isn’t good, then I may cancel approaching the release. I do try and stick to developers or franchises I trust...Nintendo and the like.

I’m ordering physical games here rather than digital. In Australia Day one or week physical sales are often cheaper, and then the games jump back up. In the case of Nintendo published games, they then often stay high for a long time and almost never drop dramatically, so I see no reason not to grab those titles early if I’m confident in the game itself, as I won’t save much or anything waiting.

I don't often preorder, but when I do it's because I know I won't regret my purchase, and I know I want a physical copy to arrive on day 1. Of course I know there's some risk, but if I felt a game really was that risky then I would wait, I just buy the ones I feel are safe bets.

I know what developers and series I like, and if one of my favorite games is getting a sequel I know I'm playing it. Even if the sequel isn't quite as good as the prior game I liked, they're never bad enough for me to not want to play them at all.

I suppose it helps that my tastes lie far enough outside the kinds of mainstream AAA games that are prone to totally botched launches that I've never been truly burned.

I've never understood the concept of pre ordering digital content, it's not going to run out of stock. And why pay extra for a few graphical items that don't change the way the game plays?

Also, surely digital games would be cheaper because there's no physical product to send to the customer? But there you go. Base copy of Diablo 4 is £70!! Wow!

When AEW Fight Forever I had friends asking if I was going to preorder a game they knew I was buying digitally.

Our games are digital and we cannot run out of stock

We can buy them on our platforms at a moments notice, from the comfort of our homes. The days of lining up at a store until midnight is over. Therefore there is no reason to preorder, if there is a bonus that you must have wait until the last moment read every preview and buy it minutes to release, but remember anything that is given away as a bonus that is separate from the base game is almost always frivolous and doesn't really contribute to the game in any real way.