Germany bans pre-orders with non-specific release dates

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

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https://www.greenmangaming.com/news...s-pre-orders-with-non-specific-release-dates/

German authorities have banned online retailers from taking pre-orders for games which don’t have specific release dates.

As reported by German website Heise Online, a case was brought against the online retailer Mediamarkt in the Higher Regional Court of Munich, alleging that Mediamarkt had supplied “Illegal information” to customers who pre-ordered Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphones in 2016.

The website described the Galaxy S6 as: “Available soon.” But according to Heise, the court ruled that: “This indeterminate statement regarding the delivery of online goods orders violates the legal duty of information of the seller.” As a result, new legislation is being introduced which applies across all online retailers operating in Germany, and applies to all goods, including videogames. Wolfgang Schuldzinski, CEO of Düsseldorf Consumer which took the case to court, said: “When consumers order goods on the internet, providers must specify by when the goods are delivered.”

No such law exists in the UK, so online retailers are still free to take pre-orders for games with vague release dates. As ever, we’ll keep you up to date with all the emerging news about release dates.
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Interesting. I personally think "pre-order" laws should go further.

Personally, I do not "pre-order" but the whole concept is dodgy in my book in a digital market.
 
Personally, I don't see a problem with pre-orders. Its not something I do often, but sometimes I will if I see a good deal and I know I'm going to want it day 1.

I would think we are able to make our own minds up about if we wish to pre-order a product without a set release date, I'm not sure its something that the government needs to protect people from...

Companies might just make up dates to get around it?

I wonder what happens if the release date gets pushed back? It happens sometimes and I think most of us understand that its sometimes unavoidable. Will they be forced to push out a broken game to avoid a fine of something?

Also, most of the time when you pre-order something, you can just cancel if you change your mind, so whats the drama?
 
The problem being, sometimes the retailer will charge you there and then.

Payment should be taken when shipped.
tracertong said:
I wonder what implications this will have for Star Citizen ?
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You are buying early access and getting it so not strictly a "pre order".

It is to stop guff like this:

https://www.game.co.uk/en/rage-2-collectors-edition-uk-retail-exclusive-2395013#preorder

In this day and age, a large number of consumers are stupid so do need protecting unfortunately.

They are the reason we have the pre-order epidemic of multiple SKU's at launch.
 
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