Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's Controversial Preorder Campaign Cancelled

Square Enix has scrapped the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided "augmented" preorders program, admitting that the policy triggered a "resounding amount of negative feedback."

The publisher said it initially wanted to give customers more choice with the scheme, which offered multiple tiers of rewards depending on how many people preordered the game.

For a certain number of global preorders, the publisher would give away DLC, ranging from in-game costumes, to soundtracks, to extra missions. At the highest tier, the publisher would have dispatched the pre-ordered copies some four days ahead of its general release date.

"When it was first conceived, we wanted the program to give you more choice about what you received in terms of preorder incentives," it explained. "In the past, when we chose those packages ourselves and split them across regions, it has caused frustration.

"We quickly noticed that this [new] approach created even more frustration, resulting in a resounding amount of negative feedback," it added.

All the content will now be available to all customers who preorder, regardless of how many do, Square Enix said

"After much thought and reflection, we decided to close down the program and make all of the incentive content available to anyone who preorders Deus Ex: Mankind Divided or purchases a Day 1 edition of the game.

"Additionally, the release date will no longer be changed in accordance with preorder numbers, and everyone will gain access to the game on February 23, 2016."

Mankind Divided is in the closing stages of development at Eidos Montreal for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, and runs on the developer's proprietary Dawn Engine. The game takes place in 2029, and continues the story of Adam Jensen from Human Revolution.