Square Enix cancels much-criticized Deus Ex pre-order program

IGN is reporting that publisher Square Enix is ending their controversial pre-order program for Deux Ex: Mankind Divided. The program, which immediately garnered considerable hate from both fans and the press, had multiple "tiers" of bonus content that gamers could pick to "augment" their pre-order package of the game. As more people pre-ordered, Square-Enix promised to unlock more bonuses, culminating in the rather mercenary promise to release the game four days early.

This essentially blackmailed gamers into pre-ordering, turning the already risible practice of carving up bonuses between retailers into something even more exploitative. The whole thing stank, and marred the noble reputation of a series that is ironically about megacorporations and conspiracies manipulating the populace. It's good that they killed the program, but the damage is already done.

Mankind Divided is still being made by the same awesome team that developed Deus Ex: Human Revolution, so there's no doubt the game will be great, but I'm probably not going to be there day one with my wallet out. Cancellation or not, Square-Enix needs to learn that this kind of stunt doesn't get rewarded with my money.