I stopped preordering unless it's a project that I 100% believe in.

Usually it's titles from studios that never miss like Supergiant Games or small dev team projects with a solid demo.

You don't need to pre-order anything except limited edition collector's releases of which there will be relatively few physical copies. You don't need to pre-order EA Sports titles, Bethesda titles, Halo, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, and especially not digital games. Pre-ordering systems are inherently anti-consumer. Even systems that don't require a down payment on the game, still exist to prove to publishers that pre-ordering is a viable way to make money. Not only that, but your personal information is now in a database that you don't control or can consent to 3rd party access. Just don't do it.

I wanna talk about DLC. I bought a physical copy of Fire Emblem Engage. I also bought the DLC. I had to go out to take someone somewhere and wait, so I brought my Switch. The game was running before I left home. Had to connect to the internet to resume the game while I was waiting for the person.

I pretty much don't even buy a game after it's been launched now and I wait a couple of months to see what happens. They haven't bought out a game since Halo that I've cared enough about to even buy on day 1 and it's not like I don't have a fat library of other games I already enjoy.

I don't often preorder, but when I do it's because I know I won't regret my purchase, and I know I want a physical copy to arrive on day 1. Of course I know there's some risk, but if I felt a game really was that risky then I would wait, I just buy the ones I feel are safe bets.

I know what developers and series I like, and if one of my favorite games is getting a sequel I know I'm playing it. Even if the sequel isn't quite as good as the prior game I liked, they're never bad enough for me to not want to play them at all.

I suppose it helps that my tastes lie far enough outside the kinds of mainstream AAA games that are prone to totally botched launches that I've never been truly burned.

We used to demand trials before buying before

We did? When exactly? Not when I was buying games for my consoles on the flea market and not when I got Rollercoaster Tycoon from a cereal box.

every game has a built in trial these days. trial the game for up to 2 hours in the first 2 weeks of buying it, and if you don't like it, steam refund it.

I just played the trial for Pikmin 4, then pre-ordered the game

I generally don't preorder games because I like to be able to watch streamers play a bit of the game to get an idea of what the game is like and if it's any good. However, I will preorder Nintendo games since their first party games are almost always good. I think the only first party Nintendo game I've ever played that I was disappointed with in the past 20 years was Skyward Sword.

I stopped preordering awhile ago but honestly I just stopped buying games in general. I already have enough games to last me a lifetime and there is just so much trash getting released that I skip it all together.

I only preorder games that have a demo.

Stop it

Nobody tells me what to do with my own money.

I played the Lies of P demo for almost 6 hours. First pre-order in years.

Last game I pre-ordered before was Cyberpunk 2077, of course that turned out to be a huge lesson. I no longer pre-order anything, Lies of P was the exception because their push for people to try the game themselves along with their reaction to feedback was reassuring. Plus with early access to the game at a date that is perfect for me to dive in based on my schedule, seemed like a good time to show some appreciation.