Tue, Nov 20, 2012 | 21:16 GMT
Square Enix marketer keen to drop retailer exclusive bonuses
Square Enix’s director of marketing, Cord Smith, would like to see an end to retailer-specific pre-order bonuses, to the benefit of all parties.
Speaking with GamesIndustry, Smith argued that “channel-wide” pre-order incentives would actually benefit everyone.
Gamers would no longer miss out on content by placing their orders with one retailer or another; publishers wouldn’t have to manufacture and distribute multiple SKUs; and even retailers could benefit from simpler messaging and reduced chance of losing regular customers to competition with “better” exclusives.
“It’s a sensitive game, but it’s one I think we can play. The retailers have been very receptive to the fact that something channel-wide doesn’t really take anything away from them,” Smith said.
“It kind of puts the ball in their court. The more they can do to bring awareness to their particular customer base about the offer, the better they’ll do. As long as it’s a good incentive, it’s not so bad that’s it’s not fully exclusive.”
Smith said Square Enix is already planning channel-wide pre-order bonuses for Tomb Raider, its next major retail release due in early 2013 – although some retailers have already announced exclusive deals, including Amazon and GameStop.
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Posted in: Retail, Square Enix
Tags: Cord Smith, pre-order bonus
11 comments
#1
Maximum Payne
20/11/12, 9:21 pm
Finnally someone smart.
#2
Pytox
20/11/12, 9:45 pm
I’m liking Square Enix more and more
#3
joshua nash
20/11/12, 9:56 pm
okay Square Enix is starting to gain a lot of my respect
#4
YoungZer0
20/11/12, 9:57 pm
Seriously Square, what’s going on with you? O: You’re like the complete opposite of Ubisoft.
#5
IrrationalGamer
20/11/12, 11:03 pm
If this is true, thank the gaming gods. I am so sick of exclusive pre-order bonuses. They dictate where I go to get my games, or completely turn me off of a game because the exclusives are too important, and I can’t get them all.
Please, all publishers and developers, follow this line of thinking!
I blame Capcom and Gamestop for the pre-order nonsense spiraling out of control. I remember when Capcom had an exclusive multiplayer map for Lost Planet 2, and that was the first major leap that I can remember. Can anyone else suggest something earlier?
#6
SameeR_Fisher
20/11/12, 11:20 pm
oh my GOD, finally we are getting smart people who actually care about the players, the gamers, they care about us rather than money, I can’t believe it.
I am just so happy for this, I hope the rest of publishers follow Square Enix foot steps, I am buying Hitman Absolution, and Tomb Raider, also I am waiting for Thief 4 and the sequel to Deus Ex Human Revolution, and I hope one day they can make a new Legacy of Kain game.
#7
DSB
20/11/12, 11:41 pm
Sorry to be the homophobe at the circlejerk and all, but they just released a game yesterday that was packed to the brim with this sort of nonsense, and the post itself states that Tomb Raider will have the same.
Man, when you can’t trust a publisher PR speaking to a games mag, who can you trust?
If Cord Smith “would like” to see something like that happen, why isn’t he doing it? It stands to reason that either he doesn’t have Square Enix’s best at heart, which would be odd, or he’s just full of shit, which would be more common.
#8
OlderGamer
20/11/12, 11:48 pm
Maybe his hands are tied DSB?
I think it is a good move, it also makes marketing tough with multi skus/preorder bonueses. If they have just one set of bonuses they can easily market that, but what are they going to do list each different “incentive” per shop in their adverts? Just foolish for all people invoved.
#9
DSB
21/11/12, 12:43 am
@8 Seriously, he’s director of marketing. Director. Of. Marketing.
I have no respect for executives who apparently have so little power that they have to settle for talking about all the good things they would do “if only they could”. Bull-bull-bull.
No doubt retail want all the exclusives they can get, no doubt they’ll both beg for it, and pay for it, but thinking that it takes these guys less than a second to agree to it, out of anything other than default corporate greed, is just mindnumbingly naive.
If they’re smart, then they should act smart. Don’t talk smart, while acting like every other greedy publisher.
#10
OlderGamer
21/11/12, 12:47 am
I meant that maybe he is bound by previous contracts or something. Just saying, wanting something and doing something are often times different things.
#11
DSB
21/11/12, 12:54 am
@11 Talking about something and doing something are different things indeed.
This makes money for Square Enix. Ergo, that’s what they do. If they can get a few cheap points by saying it’s so horrible for them while they do it, then fair game.
What he really means is “If only this didn’t make us money”. They’re perfectly capable of saying no to these guys, if they actually wanted to.