GameStop: Metacritic to blame for game pre-order problems

Pre-orders are falling because gamers are paying extra attention to review scores, said GameStop international boss Mike Mauler.

The retailer said that – much like in the UK – pre-orders have started to dip in America. But insisted that the number of consumers coming out day one remains healthy.

Pre-orders have declined a little bit here, but the percentage week one sales versus pre-orders has increased a lot,” Mauler explained.

Pre-orders might be lower but in the first week instead of selling 120 per cent of pre-orders, you’re selling 150 per cent of pre-orders. The demand is still there, but there’s been a shift in terms of pre-ordering the product.

There is more attention paid to the Metacritic score than in the past. Two or three years ago it wasn’t really a topic of conversation, but now the week before release it’s getting a lot of attention.”

GameTrack data revealed to MCV in April that 3.4m UK gamers were either pre-ordering fewer games, or had stopped advance ordering altogether.