Witcher 3 Standard PC Retail Unavailable on Amazon US

[Riven-Twain]

I don't think I ever saw this game come up on Amazon US as being available for pre-order. I am beginning to think they are not even going to make a physical version for the US. Wouldn't be the first time a AAA game didn't get a physical version in the US.

Up until now, the physical game was available for pre-order on Amazon -- I was keeping an eye on it. It is rather strange that such a large retailer suddenly ran out. Their reply to my inquiry was vague, as expected, however, from what I could gather, it seems they don't know exactly when they will have more for order. Interesting, but still odd.

21 days left and you have not pre-ordered, come on man. Anyway. Do you have to buy from Amazon? What about local retailers or local online retailers?

I won't go into much detail, but until a month ago, I wasn't sure if I would be able to play the game at all. Since then, I was forced to replace my computer, so I upgraded, and now am assured I can play.

I don't need to buy from Amazon, but it would be easier, because I do business with them regularly. I am obliged to buy the physical copy, though, owing to an unstable -- very slow -- inconvenient internet-service location, which can't be remedied. The physical copy is the most economical, and efficient, choice, in my case.

 

[Persei8]

you can buy it at gamestop.same price and they are in all the us
http://www.gamestop.com/pc/games/the-witcher-iii-wild-hunt/114064
they give you a nice keychain

I'm not sure which retailer in the USA but one of them has one of those steelbooks as a pre-order incentive. I wish I could get that steelbook.

---------- Updated at 11:05 PM ----------

Up until now, the physical game was available for pre-order on Amazon -- I was keeping an eye on it. It is rather strange that such a large retailer suddenly ran out. Their reply to my inquiry was vague, as expected, however, from what I could gather, it seems they don't know exactly when they will have more for order. Interesting, but still odd.

If Amazon was taking pre-orders and now they stopped, it means that they got a lot of pre-orders and now they have to fill those orders. The Witcher 3 is shipping all over the world. South America, Africa, Europe, Russia, India, Aus land, half of the USA, will all prefer physical copies. So a lot of fucking copies. I don't think there is enough time to give Amazon unlimited copies.

Half of USA, uk and those asian countries, are the main digital buyers. The rest of the world still wants to get physical.

 

[eisberg77]

Seems you not getting it. Offline buyers can not buy PC games at retail. That means they not buying PC games through digital distribution. That means they not buying Steam Sales.

PC games at retail needs internet activation. In other words PC games needs the internet before it can install. If you are a offline gamer, internet requirement means they can't buy and play the PC games.

So PC games at retail is for the online gamers not for the offline gamers. Your argument is pretty much one sided, online gamers. You not bring up the offline gamers in your argument. You are ignoring them. You are acting like they don't exist. Well concerning PC games, the offline gamers don't exist. And that is the problem.

Retail can not cater to the online gamers. And that is why PC games are not selling well in retail because the online buyers are preferring to buy at Steam. And retail is not dying. PC games at retail are dying. Console games at retail are still selling really well.

But I can't keep on saying the same thing. If PC games at retail catered to the offline buyers, like how The Witcher 3 is catering to the offline buyers at retail, then PC games will do ok at retail. But we got to get the offline gamers to buy PC games again. Retail can not cut off the offline gamers.

Online gamers have Steam and gog and Origin and Uplay and social club and battle.net and there will be others. And that's all fine.
Offline gamers have retail. They have taken PC games away from offline gamers at retail. And that is not fine. Retail can not cater to online gamers only because retail can't compete against Steam and it shows. But retail is still selling those console games though. So retail can sell those PC games if only PC games can cater to the offline gamers at retail.

I don't know how many times I have to say it.

Even before online activation was needed to get games to run, when all they needed was to put a code during installation, Retail sales were already losing out. Gamestop moved to a 3ft by 4ft section for PC gaming long before online activation became popular and common, this wasn't to long after Steam and other providers started to sell games. In the US, 86% of Americans have the internet, for PC Gamers no doubt that penetration is even higher, and the average data cap in the US is over 200GB, which is plenty for PC gaming. Retail sales for PC gaming in the US is dying because of the all conveniences of digital distribution and the various discount sales, and not because of online activation.

 

[Riven-Twain]

If Amazon was taking pre-orders and now they stopped, it means that they got a lot of pre-orders and now they have to fill those orders. The Witcher 3 is shipping all over the world. South America, Africa, Europe, Russia, India, Aus land, half of the USA, will all prefer physical copies. So a lot of fucking copies. I don't think there is enough time to give Amazon unlimited copies.

Half of USA, uk and those asian countries, are the main digital buyers. The rest of the world still wants to get physical.

That's what's odd, as far as I can tell, the other Amazon sites for the rest of the World still offer it for pre-order. There must have been a sudden surge in US orders.

 

[Persei8]

I'm pretty sure Amazon has warehouses all over the world. So all the Witcher 3 stock is not going to go to the USA and then shipped out.

And yes. It's pay time. This is the time when most of the pre-orders will be made, seeing as The Witcher 3 is coming out before the next pay day.

 

[eisberg77]

That's what's odd, as far as I can tell, the other Amazon sites for the rest of the World still offer it for pre-order. There must have been a sudden surge in US orders.

Every region has different publishers. Either there was a sudden surge and the processing plant cant make that many to fulfill the orders on time for release day, or the publisher only put in a order for so many based on expected demand for physical versions which in the US is most likely not very much, or they are not releasing the game on physical disks because the US has such low demand for physical versions.

 

[Riven-Twain]

We'll see.The States are very large, and a have a very peculiar market, sometimes.

 

[Eruvadhor]

Call up and pre-order through gamestop. Chances are that people purchasing a retail PC copy haven't been purchasing through gamestop. It should only take 10-15% down to reserve the copy, and you should still have a couple of weeks before they finalize shipping arrangements for which stores are getting X amount of copies of the PC version.

(I'm assuming you are in the US because you are concerned about the US amazon availability.) It's also a good possibility of gamestop doing a midnight release depending on your local area.

This is where I pre-ordered mine, since I have the next closest thing to dial-up until later this year. The employee at Gamestop said they only get 5-40 people for pre-order releases, and it serves a population of about 90k.

The employee also said they are considering a midnight, or more likely 11PM release (the day before).

 

[Riven-Twain]

All right. After some inquires, Amazon has restored the PC edition for pre-order, but the special comic offer appears to have ended. The crisis is over, citizens, we can return to our lives, now (that is, if anybody else cared much.) If @Kinley or @Dragonbird would like, they can lock down this thread.

 

[Lieste]

That's what's odd, as far as I can tell, the other Amazon sites for the rest of the World still offer it for pre-order. There must have been a sudden surge in US orders.

There was a sudden surge in marketing effort... seems reasonable.