Is it cheaper to pre order a game or to buy it after it's released?
In terms of physical game releases, per-ordering is actually more helpful than some think. Big AAA to smaller indie studios planning retail releases need to know how many copies to have made, so those pre-orders help them decide. Some AAA games already have certain big sales targets, so numbers over that end up used as bragging rights by publishers (which becomes a “shipped vs sold” issue that’s worth a post in and of itself).Now, we all know a AAA game these days never seems to “sell out” completely, but demand for popular titles sometimes outstrips availble supply in a few markets. One thing that’s a certainty is with most AAA releases, you’ll see plenty of cheaper used copies show up after a period of time. This statement doesn’t include holidays when hugely popular games shoot up in price for new and used copies thanks to those who need that big gift and will pay more for it.Both big and smaller publishers who don’t see many pre-orders on certain games may only have one run printed, making those games harder to find and thus more in demand later (meaning the price goes up in some places thanks to scarcity).Digital-ONLY pre-ordering has become common but is somewhat unusual because while it’s really not necessary (you don’t “run out” of digital codes for consumers), some titles allow for “pre-loading” games in order for those that pre-ordered to download and play them slightly earlier than those who don’t pre-order. In these cases, some publishers offer discounts and/or digital/physical bonuses to those who can’t wait, but the % off varies wildly from publisher to publisher.Back to cost for a second. If a game is reviewed poorly, in most cases, the asking price (MSRP) may drop fairly quickly for a new copy (whether it be digital or physical). In SOME cases where a game with a low physical print run has received poor reviews, the asking price of the physical version goes UP, but the digital price stays as-is thanks to not many retail copies existing, curious gamers or collectors snapping up all available copies, and a publisher needing to make a profit while they can at the MSRP.