Why do they take orders so far in advance?

FlamingoKicker1 · January 2014

I noticed you can pre-order this game already. But it doesn't ship until six or seven months from now.

Why the need to take orders so soon? Do people think the price will go up or they will run out?

ritaroxy12 · January 2014

I think it's because the stores that sell them need to know how many orders they need to get:

E.g. If 100 people order them they may get in 150 games

BlueSeaWaves · January 2014

Because some people can't resist, when pre-orders for GTA V were announced they were full, that Gamestop had to stop taking pre orders.

Faith12368 · January 2014

It is the way they guage interest, reaction, and want. It also starts getting on lists such as most anticipated which allows them to cash in on advertising therefore spreading the word to the masses. Basically it is a way to build up revenue for the quarter it is ordered in and making a profit on something that isn't even tangible yet.

MinDtriKz · January 2014

Also: convenience. I preorder games and sometimes forget when they are coming out- but boop! There it is at my door. It's a nice treat

Alistu · January 2014

I'm already receiving emails from GAME in the UK telling me to pre-order "while stocks last"!
The stock doesn't arrive for over half a year away so how on earth they could be running out I have no idea.

Goldmoldar · January 2014

Alistu wrote:

I'm already receiving emails from GAME in the UK telling me to pre-order "while stocks last"!
The stock doesn't arrive for over half a year away so how on earth they could be running out I have no idea.

They put out a determine amount in the first wave like how Xbox One and PS 4 was done and see how well the game is received and if it is received well, they will increase the production. EA/Maxis receive no money from some stores and online retailers when pre-orders are done so in some aspect it is a gamble for them that those who pre-ordered will actually buy the product. Exclusives are like carrots dangling giving us a desire to get that carrot(exclusive)in turn EA/Maxis gets our money and Most companies do this when releasing their products.

Cinebar · January 2014

Personally, I think EA has made a mistake by allowing preorder one year and six months before the game is even ready to show.

I can see taking preorders three months to six months in advance when players have something to go on, but The Sims reputation isn't all that great anymore so they gambled big time in allowing preorders 1 1/2 years in advance.

It's like they bet their money on the idea it's called The Sims 4 and people would jump at it sight unseen, only those that cook the books, uh I mean balance the books each quarter knows if this idea of preorders 1 1/2 years away from release actually worked.

ETA: note, we have been able to preorder as soon as they announced it almost,...I do think we could even preorder before the Gamescon showing couldn't we...yes, I think we could. That's 1 1/2 years before release..it's crazy.

Glic2003 · January 2014

Because money?

EA LOVE MONEY!!

FlamingoKicker1 · January 2014

But if the game was just digital they'd really save a lot of money cause they wouldn't even have to manufacture anything (well, at least no disks, or boxes or anything).

That's probably what they would like most.

All the gravy and none of the dirty dishes after wards (or something like that)

Katlyn2525 · January 2014

They said that you could preorder the game when they showed us Sims 4 for the 1st time at Gamescom. I am sure they were hoping for a lot of the simmers to jump on the bandwagon and order the new game. They also waved it under your nose every time you went in to preorder something for the Sims 3 on Origin. I am sure some people, in their excitement over the prospect of a new sims game, did probably preorder it.

It is clearly a marketing tactic. It is used to gage how strong the initial sales of the game will be. Also, by adding incentives, you will be encouraged to buy the game through Origin and not from any of its competitors.

Personally, that doesn't work for me. I refuse to preorder a game I know absolutely nothing about. If I decide to preorder the Sims 4 or any other game, it will be a week or two before it is released.

AlexRoz9 · January 2014

MinDtriKz wrote:

Also: convenience. I preorder games and sometimes forget when they are coming out- but boop! There it is at my door. It's a nice treat

This is probably the one advantage to taking pre–orders this far in advance; there are people who pre–order stuff and just forget about it until it shows up. I've done this before myself.

On the other hand...

Cinebar wrote:

Personally, I think EA has made a mistake by allowing preorder one year and six months before the game is even ready to show.

I can see taking preorders three months to six months in advance when players have something to go on, but The Sims reputation isn't all that great anymore so they gambled big time in allowing preorders 1 1/2 years in advance.

It's like they bet their money on the idea it's called The Sims 4 and people would jump at it sight unseen, only those that cook the books, uh I mean balance the books each quarter knows if this idea of preorders 1 1/2 years away from release actually worked.

Taking pre–orders this early in advance is usually a risky proposition. The system specs aren't even finalized yet, so EA is basically asking consumers to buy a game that might or might not work on their system. If the required specs are far higher than anticipated, EA could see an influx of returns. Additionally, a pre–order for something that won't be available for a year and a half might not even be entirely legal in some areas. While a lot of consumers probably aren't aware of this, and the people pre–ordering at this stage probably don't care, you can bet that there's a litigator somewhere who wouldn't be above pre–ordering the game just to mount a lawsuit to make some extra money and/or a name for himself/herself.

As happy as I am that the Sims 4 has been announced, announcing the game a year and a half before it's release date might not have been a smart idea. If EA announced the game too far in advance, it may cause potential customers to lose interest in it. This could also explain the early pre–orders, as EA effectively painted themselves into a corner when they announced the game; if it didn't go up for pre–order shortly after the announcement, people who don't follow The Sims franchise religiously could and would have assumed that TS4 was cancelled, and wouldn't have placed pre–orders when they finally did become available. (It also probably wasn't wise to list Windows–only pre–orders for a game that has a rather large following of Mac users. Even if the Mac version wasn't going to be released at the same time as the Windows version, EA could still take pre–orders and note that the Mac version is coming later.) You can be sure that EA is banking on brand loyalty by taking pre–orders this far in advance; whether or not this will be successful is probably a toss–up. A lot of people seem hesitant to pre–order TS4 after their experiences with TS3, and I can't blame them; as much as I want the game, I want to know that it's not going to play like a bug–ridden beta build. (I also need a Mac version to be available, so I couldn't pre–order now even if I was ready too.)

GoldenSaint · January 2014

They take pre-orders on a game to gauge how well they game is being advertised and to estimate profits before release. Its a way of quantifying their efforts. So if their is a big drop in pre-orders they can use that information to make adjustments to their advertising and promotion efforts.

In terms of financial reasons, they do it to say on their earnings call we expect x amount of money for the Sims 4.

EA doesn't care if the game will run on your computer, all they care about is getting your money. Once the specs are released if you can't run it, just cancel your pre-order.
(do they charge your credit card for the full pre-order price by any chance?)

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Why do they take orders so far in advance?

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