The newest game Evolve from Turtle Rock Studios (developers of Left4Dead) now has an exclusive PC edition available for pre-order. According to the Steam page following content is included for the measly sum of $99.99 only exclusively for PC gamers.

Evolve PC Monster Race Edition

Take the hunt to the next stage with the Evolve PC Monster Race Edition which includes additional bonus digital content:

• Evolve: Hunting Season Pass – Boost your hunting party. The Evolve Hunting Season Pass includes 4 new hunters and 3 exclusive Magma monster skins for one low price. Unlock the Magma skins right away to customize Goliath, Kraken, or Wraith.
• Fifth Playable Monster – Goliath, Kraken, Wraith and Behemoth are not alone. A fifth playable Monster is coming to Shear and included in the PC Monster Race Edition.
• Two More Hunters – With more Monsters threatening Shear Hunters are needed… and they’re coming. Get two additional Hunters to join the fight to save the colony.
• Four Monster Skins (Limited Time Exclusive): Show the Hunters who’s boss with these limited time Exclusive Monster skins. Celebrate the release of Behemoth when he comes to Shear with a skin for each of the first four Monsters: Goliath, Kraken, Wraith & Behemoth.

The main thing to notice is that this kind of price is usually associated with physical collector's editions but this is only the digital version of the game with no physical goodies involved. Instead of questioning the plethora of different editions of a single game on multiple platforms, following is the reaction of the general public.

https://talk.turtlerockstudios.com/t/pc-monster-race-edition-100/26006

I wish more people would heed the advice of tolalbiscuit regarding the disastrous affects of pre-order culture on video games that was clearly visible from Ubisoft's epic failures last year with Watch Dogs and Assassins Creed: Unity. Sadly it seems that no lessons were learned and as long as people keep throwing their money away the publishers will be happy to continue to churn these games out without concern for quality or consumer rights. Here is totalbiscuit's insightful analysis and sage advise as a refresher for those that haven't seen it.

Should you preorder videogames?

"Groan".

That's more like a game+season pass DLC pack price. It's very sad to even see people buying a game for full price, on day-one as half-broken, but when the season pass is already planned and coming out, let alone pre-ordering at that higher price, that's crazy.

I would still pre-order The Witcher 3 and Hatred as a statement, however. Does that count?

So I guess you didn't like the clever play on words then. ;)

I especially like the following bullshit: lol

Only last year? Has been a long time since most publisher has been doing this, and Ubisoft is the worst. Poor souls those who pre order Ghost Recon Future Soldier for PC...

And yes, the consumers behavior suggest that most of them don't care about companies thieving them with low ended products; that's what happen when a company invest ALL the money in advertising instead developing.

all down hill since Mortal Monday...

I'm sure people will come around eventually. Once they have been burned a couple times, people will learn, surely.

I agree,Pre-Order actually means (come in suckers) have we got a deal for you:-)

I disagree with the notion that pre-orders are inherently bad. Some companies have earned my trust sufficiently that I am willing to "reward" them by pre-ordering their games, even though I could wait until release to purchase them. CD Project is an example of one such company - and yes, I have pre-ordered the Witcher 3.

This can even have a positive effect on some companies, as the ones who consistently deliver and earn the trust of their customers can get rewarded by getting money earlier and this is more beneficial to them than it seams, as time is money (future value vs. present value of money and all that economic theory behind it...). Furthermore, even though I do not expect it, some of the pre-order money might can even be funneled into polishing the game the company in question is still working on, thus ensuring a less buggy game on release. And there are additional benefits - e.g. it keeps the company on its toes, as trust is easily lost if expectations are dashed... and then the company loses the benefits of pre-orders.

Of course, my theory only works if people pre-order judiciously based on consistency of quality outputs from the given company. That pretty much precludes pre-orders from Ubisoft or EA, for example, which have made some great games, but also a plethora of mediocre ones - that certainly does not inspire confidence in their consistent performance. (Of course, this speaks about a situation a few years back - these days Ubisoft or EA only make games tied to their online DRM systems, which means I don't buy from them at all - never mind preordering.)

Pretty much my view. CDProjekt is the only company I pre-order from, but assuming there were others, I'd have no issues with it until such time as they start doing things that are inherently bad for the consumer. I don't see the Witcher 3 pre-order in that category.

That's a significant amount of content to remove from non pre-orders, guess I'll pass on that one.

Skins? Really? Was it so long ago that mod sites were full of user-created skins for free? Now they're worth a sizable chunk of your income? Either this greedy money grab will disappear without a trace or the future of gaming just got a shade darker. Yeah, of course. It's been happening for years. But what's also been happening is that a new generation of suckers is already there to fill the void.

CD Projekt RED is definitely the exception because the precedent they have set with their previous releases is ample proof of them being the most consumer friendly developer out there, hence pre-ordering The Witcher 3 is the safest bet one could make. Unfortunately majority of the developers and specifically publishers are only looking for their own best interests while bleeding customers dry with more timed platform exclusives, Day 1 DLCs and promises of future additional content with season passes.

Well, we can feel lucky to do not support this kind of shit with our preorders on GOG!
Although I´d appreciate it even more if GOG would publish an even striter ruleset:
1. No exclusive material, NOTHING! (but discounts for DeluxeEditionDLCs ect.)
2. At least 20% discount!
3. Discount guarantee for at least a quartal (game isn´t allowed to become cheaper than it´s preorder discount price)

But I´m glad this is already reality for most preorders on GOG!