Hey, remember that whole “Augment Your Pre-Order” scheme for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided we reported on recently? Well, Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have decided to put an end to it.

Yay!

When the pre-order system was first announced last month, it received an enormous amount of backlash from fans and the media alike. This was due to the fact that it those who pre-ordered wouldn’t be able to gain access to all the bonuses, and that Mankind Divided’s release date would be pushed forward if enough people signed up, which made it look like the developer and publisher were holding the release date to ransom.

After receiving the negative feedback, Square and Eidos announced on the Deus Ex website that the the pre-order scheme has been cancelled, and that anyone who pre-orders the game will receive all the content, as opposed to only some of it. Anyone who participated in the “Augment Your Pre-Order” program will already have the changes taken care of.

The only pre-order incentive that’s no longer available is the early release date. One way or another, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be released on its original release date of February 23, 2016. Which kind of implies that Square Enix intends to just sit on a completed game for an additional four days, because reasons.

But still, there’s plenty to play in the meantime.

Squeenix’s announcement also explained the reasoning behind the pre-order scheme. Square Enix and Edios conceived the program to give players more choice about what they want in terms of pre-order incentives because, according to them, when they’ve chosen the packages themselves in the past and split them across regions, it had “caused frustration”. However, even they acknowledged that this approach caused even more frustration than before, which made them reconsider the whole pre-order scheme.

Here’s a thought: stop hiving off bits of your game to people who preorder, and just give everyone the same content.

The official Deus Ex twitter also shared the update, by saying:

You asked for this: we are cancelling the "Augment your Pre-Order" program. Read all the details here - https://t.co/L7c4axjmuV

— Deus Ex (@DeusEx) October 1, 2024

Though this whole fiasco has harmed Mankind Divided’s image in the eyes of some fans, it should be noted that the game itself is probably itself going to be at least decent. The previous installment, Deus Ex: Human Revoultion, was well received in our retrospective review by Nic Bunce. He gave it an 8/10 stating that despite the disappointing multiple-ending choices and tedious boss scenarios, most other aspects of Human Revolution were solid.

“All in all, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is pretty spectacular,” Nic wrote in his Deus Ex: Human Revolution review, “even if the ending and the boss fights are both rather bobbins.”

Which, coming from the ever-cynical Mister Bunce, is about as high praise as you’re likely to get (we call him Mister Grumps, in case you’re wondering).

Hopefully other developers and publishers learn from Eidos’ and Square’s mistake that making convoluted pre-order schemes is not the way to incentivize people to buy your game. Then, perhaps, we can eventually move towards a world where people get the whole game regardless of whether they preordered or not. We can but hope.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is set to release on February 23, 2024 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.