Whelp, guys and gals, it’s happened. The official Deus Ex twitter profile announced today: “You asked for this: we are cancelling the “Augment Your Pre-Order” program. Read all the details here – https://www.deusex.com/news/aypo-cancelled“. If you’re not familiar with the program, it was a somewhat gross system where you choose which pre-order bonus you’ll receive, with more pre-orders unlocking more options, with the last “bonus” being that the game would be releasing four days early. I write about it here.

Yeah, I’m not used to companies actually responding to customer feedback like this- although not without trying to cover their backs. The announcement post claims that the program was devised to give us customers choice, because “when we choose those packages ourselves, and split them across regions, it has caused frustration.”

While people are frustrated when games offer different pre-order incentives at different outlets and regions, it’s not the inconvenience of having to find a copy of the game at an outlet you don’t use that’s the cause of the frustration, rather the fact that it feels less you have a complete product when pieces of the game have been cut out and scattered to the four winds. While Square Enix and Eidos Montreal seem to be making the right move in terminating the program, their attempt to cover themselves feels kind of disingenuous.

Credit where it’s due, though- the announcement post goes on to explain that, to “make things right” with customers, applying all of the pre-order bonuses to every pre-order or Day 1 edition purchasers. Furthermore, the game’s release date is no longer changed in accordance with pre-order numbers, and everyone will gain access to the game on February 23rd, 2016.”

It is nice to see the companies owning up to their mistake and going back on their gross program. Sure, it seems like this move is motivated by PR rather than customer service, and pre-order bonuses are a bit of an icky concept anyway, at least it’s a step in the right direction for now.

Image credits: techtalk.currys.co.uk