As first reported by Kotaku, those who were able to figure out the unbelievable amount of pre-order options that were available for the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight game, and decided to get the Batmobile collector's edition, may be finding themselves in for a nasty shock today. That's because the edition is now being cancelled by Warner Brothers, with only one week before the official launch of the game. This is specific to the Batmobile Collector's edition and not the Batman specific collector's edition, with the Batman statue instead. Note that the editions are different for each console, and so you can't really switch the edition at this point (unless you own both, but even then there's most likely a supply problem).
The specific reason cited regarding the cancellation seems to be around the statue of the Arkham Knight's Batmobile. In a statement by Warner Brothers:
"We regret to inform you that we are not able to release the Batmobile Collector’s Edition of Batman: Arkham Knight due to unforeseen circumstances that greatly compromised the quality of this extremely limited run of product. We are deeply apologetic for this unfortunate outcome."
The statement goes on to indicate that if you pre-ordered at a retailer and work with the retailer for either a full refund, or a conversion into another version of the game. As a way of apologizing, The New 52 DLC pack is being offered for anyone who is buying a copy of Batman: Arkham Knight. I have reached out to Project Triforce in hopes to get more information about the drop in quality, and if they plan on still offering the Batmobile statue in another form. I have also reached out to WB Games to get more information on why the orders were cancelled so late in the cycle before the release of the game. As information develops, I will update the story accordingly.
On top of that, what's also interesting is that the pre-order exclusives that have been indicated to be shop specific, may not be so shop specific anymore. A community admin named Yorick over at the WB Games community said the following regarding some of the pre-order DLC:
Throughout the 6 months of additional Batman: Arkham Knight content, Premium and Season Pass owners will receive all in-game content that is offered through various retail pre-order incentives. This includes the Harley Quinn and Red Hood Story Packs, as well as any Batmobile or Booster Pack that was available as early bonuses for pre-order of the game. For those who did not receive the content with their game, these items will become available when their respective exclusivity windows expire in August/September.
Pre-orders have been an ever growing problem in the industry, with practices such as timed exclusivity and retailer specific exclusivity being pushed with games such as Watchdogs. While it is good that users can get the content through other means, the question lies if a user was going to order in the first place from a specific retailer because of these deals.
Do you think that the collector's edition should have been entirely cancelled, or that a hold on the Batmobile statue should have been implemented in terms for collecting the statue at a later date for those interested? Does this change your views at all regarding pre-orders?
