Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ‘Augment Your Pre-Order’ program canceled

Square Enix's reward-based pre-order system for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has been cancelled following negative consumer response.

A post on the game's official site explains the thinking behind both the cancellation and the "Augment Your Pre-Order" campaign itself. First announced by the publisher in August, the program offered tiered rewards. Each pre-order tier offered new rewards to customers. More pre-orders would unlock further benefits, leading up to the final tier which would push the game's official release date forward by four days.

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"When it was first conceived," the post says, "[Square Enix and developer Eidos-Montreal] wanted the program to give you more choice about what you received in terms of pre-order incentives," citing dissatisfaction with past region-specific pre-order rewards.

Despite their good intentions, however, the companies "quickly noticed that this approach created even more frustration than before, resulting in a resounding amount of negative feedback."

In recognition of fan comments and concerns, all content previously exclusive to the pre-order incentive initiative will now be available both to those who pre-order the new Deus Ex and those who purchase its Day 1 edition.

The post concludes with an emphatic reassurance to consumers that "your feedback and input is of the utmost importance to us."

Those who wanted to circumvent the Kickstarter-esque system from the beginning could instead buy the $139.99 Collector's Edition of the game. This package, which is still available for pre-order, contains all of the physical and other benefits offered by the augmentation program.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will launch Feb. 23 for the PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.