Never Pre-Order: Anno 2205 Pre-order Bonus Beta Canned
Shady moves
"Never pre-order" is something we say a lot around here, along with "Who am I?" and "How did I get here?" and "Are these your guts or mine?" But really, never pre-order. (Well, what I mean is "the risk of a game not living up to its marketing is rarely worth the trinkets and discounts offered as pre-order perks" but that's less catchy.) Even those tempting offers of getting to play a game early might be pulled; that's what Ubisoft have done with Anno 2205 [official site].
Ubisoft have scrapped plans for a closed beta for pre-orders, and are instead offering an exclusive command ship (in the game) and emblem. Never pre-order.
"We are indeed very excited to put the game in the players' hands and we will look forward to receiving feedback at this occasion. However, we won't be able to hold the previously announced closed beta," Ubisoft announced in a forum post. "Still, we can't wait to take you to the moon on November 3rd." No apology. Whatever the reason it was scrapped (time and resources, probably), Ubi had said people would get to play before launch.
Ubisoft opened pre-orders alongside announcing Anno 2205 at E3 in June, saying "Starting now, fans can pre-order any version of the game to gain guaranteed access to the closed beta phase ahead of launch." Some guarantee that was. A page about the closed beta implored players to "pre-order & secure your access to the beta." Hrmph!
Anno 2205, if you missed the memo, takes Blue Byte's city-building-economy-o-strategy game into the future with fancy tech and moon bases. Here's a new trailer fresh out of Gamescom, but for goodness' sake don't pre-order after watching it:
Ta to the folks who dropped us e-mails about this.