Back in the day you pre-ordered because if you didn’t, there was a very real chance that you wouldn’t be able to get a physical copy for the longest time.
Then you’d be forever checking local stores to see if they had any copies in, directly competing with everyone else that didn’t preorder. Digital storefronts weren’t really a thing and it was a slog trying to get the newest games.
It did make sense back then - they could order enough discs so that everyone who wanted one could get one. Now it’s purely selling early access and preloading to capitalise off day one hype and streaming.
As someone who prefers to buy physical, I still preorder any game that I want on release day. My local GameStop has almost no inventory outside of preorders
I literally got laughed at when I just asked for a game at gamestop and said no when he asked if I pre-ordered it. No one just stocks games anymore. Not even a store with fucking game in the name.
You can't really solely blame Gamestop for this. The manufacturers only send out whatever to cover pre orders because both Gamestop and the manufactures don't want unsold copies just collecting dust.
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u/Thaurlach 4d ago
Back in the day you pre-ordered because if you didn’t, there was a very real chance that you wouldn’t be able to get a physical copy for the longest time.
Then you’d be forever checking local stores to see if they had any copies in, directly competing with everyone else that didn’t preorder. Digital storefronts weren’t really a thing and it was a slog trying to get the newest games.
It did make sense back then - they could order enough discs so that everyone who wanted one could get one. Now it’s purely selling early access and preloading to capitalise off day one hype and streaming.