Flipkart's customers who pre-ordered GTA V, and were expecting their copies to arrive on launch day Tuesday, September 17, will be bitterly disappointed, as the Indian online retailer has informed them by email that the games will be only shipped from Mumbai on September 16 night, and take 1-2 days to reach them, depending on their location.
GTA V is one of the most anticipated game releases of 2013, and is widely expected to be Rockstar Games' biggest cash cow yet. The game, which will initially only be released for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, is priced at Rs. 2,999, with fans having to dish out Rs. 3,999 for the special edition. Those who pre-ordered were offered freebies to sweeten the deal - including a GTA Double-Sided Poster, Metallic V Locket and Atomic Blimp DLC.
Flipkart's email reads: "Please note that due to publisher regulations we are not permitted to start shipping before the evening of September 16th and since we are going to ship the preorders from Mumbai, you will receive the game along with the freebies that were a part of your order - GTA Double-Sided Poster, Metallic V Locket and Atomic Blimp DLC within 1-2 business days post shipping, depending on your geographical location."
The 'delay' of the pre-order GTA V copies by Flipkart has angered a lot of customers, who were hoping to play the game on release day. Many have vowed to stop using Flipkart for pre-ordering games in the future, finding visiting brick and mortar stores to be more advantageous. Some even mentioned that the news has made them cancel all of their other pre-orders from the Indian online retail site. The reactions have also been noted by
BGR.in and other media outlets.
The concept of a retail copy pre-order does imply delivery that is before what regular buyers receive, and not much else. Sure, many retailers across the world go out of their way to ensure pre-order customers receive their copies on launch day, especially in the case of high-profile launches, such as GTA V.
To be fair, we can assume that in the case of the Flipkart GTA V pre-order debacle, pre-order buyers will indeed receive their copies ahead of those who order the game on launch day. Of course, those who line-up outside brick and mortar stores for midnight and regular launches, with the requisite time, effort and transportation costs that entails, will end up receiving their copies first, but usually with no freebies. To be noted also is that Flipkart on its game pre-order pages lists the items as 'forthcoming,' and doesn't highlight the precise delivery/shipping date.
Flipkart's cash on delivery option is (quite contradictorily) also extended to pre-orders, almost nullifying the whole pre-order concept of paying for the game in advance. The only disadvantage for pre-order buyers on Flipkart seems to be that they cannot read reviews of the game before making their purchase decision, something that pre-order customers the world over forego. In Flipkart's case, customers are also enticed to pre-order by free DLC and goodies bundled with the game.
India is also not a priority market for game publishers, especially for console games, with the rampant piracy in the market, and the relatively small volumes compared to the US and Europe. However, it's big enough that in most cases nowadays, games are released in the country alongside their global launches, something virtually unheard of in the past, unless one downloaded digital copies from global stores.