Gamestop Boss Blames Reviews for Falling Pre-orders

In the face of declining pre-order figures, Gamestop boss Mike Mauler suggests that gamers are paying more attention to reviews, potentially preventing customers from ordering a game that they would have otherwise.

He suggested these claims as a result of falling pre-order numbers in both the UK and the USA. However, he does not suggest that the overall demand for games is falling, but rather that more gamers are buying in the first week of a game’s release.

Mauler explains that the percentage of week one sales has increased in comparison to the amount of pre-orders, which seems to mean that gamers are waiting for the reviews of a game to come out before spending their money.

“Pre-orders might be lower but in the first week instead of selling 120 per cent of pre-orders, you’re selling 150 per cent of pre-orders. The demand is still there, but there’s been a shift in terms of pre-ordering the product,” he says.

It would appear that more gamers are putting their faith in the hands of the reviewers, and waiting until they can be sure that the game is going to be a good buy. This is not too surprising especially since the release of games like Assassin’s Creed Unity, which was shipped in a highly buggy state.

Perhaps gamers are becoming jaded about the state of games upon release. They may have experienced one to many in need of patches after having pre-ordered it expecting a polished game upon release date.

This may lead to developers to bolster their quality assurance efforts, which would certainly have positive effects on both consumers and retailers.

A number of wholesalers and distributors have also raised concerns about falling levels of pre-orders. Their engagement with pre-orders is even more difficult, a more detailed description of working new releases can found here.

Related Topics: Game Reviews, Gamestop

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