Summary
I, like many others, am horrified at just how muchStar Wars Outlawsis going to cost. Because I live in Singapore and buy my games in local currency, looking at the pre-order prices felt like getting hit with a blaster bolt in the chest. The base game is $70, which is to be expected for a triple-A game, but still nearly $100 in Singapore dollars. The other editions, which would allow you to play the game early and play future DLCs, are priced at $110 and $130. For me, that’s a whopping $150 and$175. Good god,Ubisoft.
I can already hear you saying, “But game journos don’t pay for anything!” Yes, we do. I pay full price for a lot of the games I write about.
Even for those who don’t have to deal with currency exchange woes, these prices are pretty ridiculous. Features lead Jade King wrote a great piece aboutwhy games shouldn’t be selling season passes before the game has even launched. There, she explains that season passes are used to make players feel like they’re not getting the full game at launch, how Ubisoft is guilty of doing this with many games, and how prices often drop after launch. These are all great reasons not to pre-order the more expensive editions of the game, but I’m here to argue against pre-ordering it at all.
Pre-ordering as a practice started because games used to be sold only on physical discs. In those bygone days, pre-ordering put money in retailers’ pockets, allowed publishers to gauge interest and manage inventory, and made sure players would have a copy when launch day came around.
Physical releases generally do still exist today, butthey often require an internet connection to download, which defeats the purpose. Nowadays, most people buy games digitally for convenience. Outlaws, for example, will require an internet connection to install it at all.
But nowadays, since most people buy digital games, pre-ordering isn’t even close to being a necessity. You won’t have to go into your local video game store and fall to your knees in despair when the shelves are empty, because you can just download it. The only advantage you get from pre-ordering a base game digitally is that it downloads automatically when the game releases.
So, in order to incentivise customers to pre-order, publishers tack on a bunch of extras that ostensibly benefit players – in this case, if you pay $40 more, you can play the game three days earlier than everybody else (an unethical practice in itself), get some cosmetics, play an extra mission at launch, and automatically get two DLCs that will arrive at some nebulous point in the future. $20 more, and you can get a digital art book, and… more cosmetics.
Here’s the thing: that’s a lot of money to spend on a game that we don’t even know will be good.While I like the idea of Star Wars Outlaws, I have a lot of criticism regarding the quality of Ubisoft’s recent releases, and there’s no guarantee that Outlaws will prove me wrong and be worth all that money. Nobody has published previews of the game yet. We don’t even know what the gameplay looks like. There is no way to judge the quality of the game at this time, and realistically, there’s a chance it’s a stinker.
Recently, Ubisoft did the same thing with Skull & Bones,allowing people who pre-ordered the Premium edition to play the “quadruple-A” game three days earlierthan the masses. I wonder how that turned out?
There’s a good chance Ubisoft will drop Outlaws’ price after launch. If you’re convinced that the game is worth dropping over $100 on right now, despite a complete dearth of evidence that it’ll be good, that’s your business, but I think you’re a mark. There is very little reason not to just wait for launch and read the reviews before purchasing – the game will be there regardless of when you decide to buy it. Don’t let Ubisoft con you.
Star Wars Outlaws
WHERE TO PLAY
Star Wars Outlaws follows Kay Vess as she bids to out manoeuver the galaxy’s deadliest criminals. An open-world action-adventure game from Ubisoft, it also features grand space battles and a deep story.
