Square Enix have officially abandoned the confusing and controversial Augment Your Pre-order system for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided following signifcant backlash from gamers.

Essentially the system offered up pre-order tiers, with each tier containing different bonuses and only unlocking if enough people pre-ordered worldwide. If you pre-ordered the game you got the pick from one bonus per tier, meaning that if enough people pre-ordered you could get up to four bonuses, picking from such things as a digital art book or item pack. The fifth tier contained the biggest incentive of all; Deus Ex: Mankind Divided would release a full four days early.

The system immediately sparked huge controversey, with the announcement trailer having a massive amount of dislikes compared to only a handful of likes.

Having realised the error of their ways Square Enix have announced that the system is now dead, and that anyone who pre-orders the game or buys a Day 1 edition will receive every single bonus that the Augment Your Pre-order system offered. Furthermore there will be no early release; everyone will get the game at the same time on February 23rd, 2016.

I’m glad to see the death of this system. As everyone who reads this website frequently knows I’m opposed to the entire pre-order market simply because it’s an inherently anti-consumer system, offering no benefits to the customer while supporting publishers. Augment Your Pre-order, had it been successful, would have set an even more dangerous precedent.