this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2025
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Do you preorder games? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) by W3dd1e@lemmy.zip to c/games@lemmy.world
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  • What about Early Access Games?
  • Do you feel differently about Early Access vs traditional preordering?
  • If you are open to the idea in specific circumstances, what are those?
  • How do you decide if a game qualifies?

I’m interested in the community thoughts on preordering and I’d love to have a thoughtful discussion on the matter.

Personally, I’m against preordering, except in specific situations where I want to actively support the development of a game.

I have been thinking about this because there is a game I’m considering preordering from a medium sized studio, but the reason I want to preorder is for the IP, rather than the game and it goes against my typical stance on this. The game is based on my favorite book series and part of me wants to encourage more games be made based on this series. At the same time, the book series has found commercial success and as a whole does not need my help.

I did name the specifics here because I’m hoping to encourage discussion on preordering as a whole, rather than my example, but if you want to know, I’ll drop a comment and we can have a discussion in the comment thread. :)

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[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

do you preorder games?

Nowadays? Not a chance. Preorders nowadays seem to be more of a incentive to allow a studio to just not have a decent final product because people have already bought in.

What about Early Access Games?

If I really like the concept, yes.

Do you feel differently about Early Access vs traditional preordering?

Early access is not pre-ordering, and as such is treated extremely differently. Preordering tells me that the product will be finished on release, EA means that it's going to need a lot of work for a finished product.

If you are open to the idea in specific circumstances, what are those?

I am extremly open to EA as it helps studios develop a product that otherwise may not be able to be created. Actual preordering is a strict closed door, there is very little reason in the digital world we live in to preorder a game.

How do you decide if a game qualifies?

I more likely will buy an early access game if I can open the page and not see:

  • Major blockers:
    • Lack of Linux support or compatibility
    • Reviews talking about the game being dead
    • Reviews talking about how the developer ignores the community
    • Update history either showing no changes or minor changes stretching back for a few months(the longer the gap the less likely I am to support the studio)
    • Opening the developer page and seeing they are actively working on a different game. (this is an instant deal breaker)
  • Minor Blockers
    • Developer responses in community pages saying "for support go to external site" usually discord. If you don't want to support your game on the storefront, don't use the storefront.
    • Update logs saying that they are actively working on DLC for their early access game. (free DLC gets a partial pass... but paid DLC for an Early Access game is a huge red flag for me)
    • No developer interactions in the community forums or an un-moderated community forum.
    • Toxic community in discussion forums or support channels (I understand this is out of the devs control at times but it still dissuades me from wanting to spend money on the games)
[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 hours ago

Thanks for specifying how you decide. I know most people don’t preorder at all and there is some skepticism toward Early Access. I expected most comments to just say that, which is why I really appreciate the detail you added.