Kingdom Hearts is already a really confusing series, with a more than 15-year legacy spanning multiple games, at least thirteen games in fact, and fans already have enough struggles just trying to understand all the convoluted plot lines and weird timeline. So imagine the compounded feeling of shock and frustration when some gamers found an e-mail from GameStop that meant they weren’t getting a very expensive pre-order like they were promised.
You see, GameStop was taking pre-orders for a special limited-edition PS4 Pro console for the last few months, and now stock shortages and “unforeseen issues” are being blamed for some people having their pre-orders randomly cancelled. As one could easily guess, people are not happy.
You would think GameStop would try and do their best to prevent logistics issues like this, especially since it so often has a huge negative impact on consumer confidence. And one would think this kind of assurance against screwups was incredibly important to GameStop, especially since the company is trying to stave off having to sell-out after a pronounced holiday slump affected profits. issues like this don’t just harm their relationship with consumers either, publishers might be less likely to partner with the retailer for exclusive deals in the future if this kind of fulfillment issue is common enough.
Whatever the future holds for GameStop, let’s just hope they manage to do better, at least they’re working to make things better and not offering a cheap nylon version of a PS4 Pro and $5. Although some gamers are rightfully irritated with the lackluster $25 “reward”, hoping they should at least be given a free copy of the game they’re desperately hoping for, or at least something a bit more useful than a small value gift card.
It sucks that GameStop screwed up, and I kind of agree that the recompense could be a bit better, but I would imagine that GameStop is already going to eat crow for this and other screwups, they probably are trying take a minimal financial loss while trying to appease angry gamers. Stock shortages and over-selling on popular consoles and games isn’t unheard of, but it really does suck for those that found out they’re not getting what they paid for on such short notice.
Fans seem pretty excited about this game as well, the game already went “Gold” in terms of sales this past month. If you want to see more Kingdom Hearts III action, go head over and check out some of the other new content from properties like Tangled, and Ratatouille. Or maybe you just want to watch the majesty that is King Mickey in action. There’s also other franchises like Big Hero 6 and Winnie the Pooh involved in the game and it’s sprawling collection of worlds. There’s also the opening cinematic which was recently released.
The game will release on January 29, 2019 for PS4 and Xbox One.
