coming soon release dates

Germany Bans Preorders of Games With Vague Release Dates

It’s long been a gaming tradition for you to mosey on up to your local games retailer, place a preorder for a title coming out who-knows-when and going on your merry way with little more than a receipt to show for it. However, if you’re living in Germany, that will no longer be the case. That’s because their government are clamping down on vague release dates in an effort to better protect consumers.

The Higher Regional Court of Munich has banned all German retailers from allowing preorders for games (as well as all other products) that only have a ‘coming soon’ or ‘available soon’ release date.

From now on, each game that is preordered in Germany must have an actual release date attached, as well as a latest date customers can expect to get their hands on a new title, delays notwithstanding, of course.

Whether the ruling will translate to other Western countries (this reaction has only come about after a German court case against an electronics retailer) remains to be seen, but it opens up an interesting conversation that’s worth having: should we only allow preorders for games that have a set release date? What do you think? Let us know down below!

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

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