The Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-Order Debacle

star wars the old republic pre-order

Some exciting news out of Comic-Con today regarding the Old Republic, but maybe not the kind that people were expecting. It’s not the release date as many people might have hoped, but rather the news that you can pre-order Star Wars: The Old Republic in one of three flavors (regular, Digital Deluxe and Collector’s
Edition).

Pre-ordering is all well and good and as natural to the video game industry as wetness is to the ocean, but letting people pre-order without a release date is a little strange. Beyond that, the Collector’s Edition was very limited (it was sold out by the time I looked at the page this morning) and apparently the Digital Deluxe version is in limited supply as well. You can still pre-order the DD SKU, but after dropping your cash-monies on it you’ll be informed that you are “likely” to receive the thing you paid for.

I’m going to try and not editorialize this too much, but there’s something wrong if you can’t guarantee people something they paid money for, especially if it is digital. What many people suspect EA and BioWare are attempting to do is limit the amount of people logging in on day one in order to transition smoothly from development to MMO-sentience, but they way they’re going about it is all wrong. Opening pre-orders before a solid release date and telling people that they might get what they paid for smacks of under-preparedness among other things.

EA will no doubt bequeath people their Digital Deluxe editions, but whether or not you’ll be in the first run remains to be seen. I get that the Collector’s Edition is supposed to be rare (given the number of Halo 3 boxes I still see in stores makes me scoff at that notion), but putting a limit on a digital item will no doubt raise eyebrows.

What do you guys think of EA’s move? Is it a little too much taking money before putting out a release date?

Written by

mitch@gamersushi.com Twitter: @mi7ch Gamertag: Lubeius PSN ID: Lubeius SteamID: Mister_L Origin/EA:Lube182 Currently Playing: PUBG, Rainbow 6: Siege, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Total War: Warhammer 2

10 thoughts on “The Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-Order Debacle”

  1. The more I hear about this game, the more worried I get. Not only are EA/Biowaretaking pre-orders on a game without a release date yet (which I don’t have as big a problem with, I’m there are places taking orders for The Last Guardian too), my biggest problem with this is that they are restricting pre-orders by region. If you aren’t living in the USA, Canada or Europe you are unable to pre-order the game through EA’s new Origin service. You are told “the game is not available in your region.” EA gave a press release yesterday saying that they “cannot commit to any time frame” for the games release outside of North america and Europe.

    Now, I can understand them wanting to make sure there servers and network can handle the strain, but seriously? Staggering the release of an ONLINE ONLY game in this age of everything being connected? How does that even happen?

    1. Hopefully soon, haha. It’s my fault. Anthony’s all caught up but I’ve been reading Dance with Dragons instead.

  2. If you go into Gamestop (if they have one near you) Mitch you can pre order the collectors just fine, I know I did ASAP. And the co founder of Bioware was quoted saying that The Old Republic would be one of the holiday’s best selling titles, confirming the holiday release window. That may not be a definitive day, but that’s the best we got. I do really like that they are limiting copies and easing people into the servers.

  3. [quote comment=”17125″]Hopefully soon, haha. It’s my fault. Anthony’s all caught up but I’ve been reading Dance with Dragons instead.[/quote]

    RIVAS! WHY AREN’T YOU PLAYING HALF LIFE 2????

  4. Drell Assassin, it’s the industry’s standard that it’s usually not the founders/high-ups of the developer but the high-up people of the publisher, that decide when and how will the product be distributed.

  5. [quote comment=”17128″][quote comment=”17125″]Hopefully soon, haha. It’s my fault. Anthony’s all caught up but I’ve been reading Dance with Dragons instead.[/quote]

    RIVAS! WHY AREN’T YOU PLAYING HALF LIFE 2????[/quote]

    Silly Eddy.

    I know it’s off topic, but it’s been a while since the last Gamersushi Podcast. Did I miss something, are you guys taking a break from it, or…?

  6. [quote comment=”17129″]Drell Assassin, it’s the industry’s standard that it’s usually not the founders/high-ups of the developer but the high-up people of the publisher, that decide when and how will the product be distributed.[/quote]
    Oh trust me I know, but I highly doubt the face of the company would say such a bold and definitive statement if there was a possibility of it not being true.

  7. Kazunori Yamauchi has said such a statement twice before the release of his game, and both times he was lying.

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