Preorders have been contentious in the gaming world for years, and mostly the situation has been getting worse. Games regularly come with exclusive content that’s limited to a single retailer or a single platform, either forever or for years. Sometimes you can purchase that content in-game anyway; sometimes it’s simply inaccessible forever. Civilization 6, on the other hand, is taking a new and much more evenhanded approach to preorders. Players who preorder will get the Aztec civilization for free… but after ninety days, so will everybody else.
Civilization 6 Preorder Bonus: The Aztecs
Firaxis Games has slowly been rolling out information on Civilization 6 over the course of the summer in advance of the game’s release in October. The most recent update revealed the details on the Aztec civilization, its leader Montezuma and its unique unit, building and wonder. It also noted that, unlike the other civilizations announced thus far, the Aztecs wouldn’t come with the base game. They’re a special preorder bonus, and would unlock immediately for anyone who preordered the game. But after three months, everybody else—those who had bought the game already, and those who bought it thereafter—would also get the Aztecs for free.
It’s a great way to handle a preorder bonus. After all, such bonuses aren’t really DLC. They don’t cost money per se; they’re just an incentive to players in order to help retailers and publishers get an early sense of what kind of inventory they need and sales they can project. We’re doing them a favor by preordering, not the other way around—it’s not like major game releases go out of stock these days, especially not digital games on PC. So Firaxis is throwing players a totally reasonable bone—a free civilization that nobody else has, for three whole months. It’s not free DLC, just a thank-you for loyalty.
Best of all, the Civilization 6 preorder bonus can’t really alienate everyone. Can’t afford the game on day one? Don’t have a credit card to preorder the game with? Won’t stop playing No Man’s Sky for one second before Civ 6 comes out? No worries. Ninety days will pass soon enough, and you’ll get your Aztecs. And by then, you’ll be all jazzed up to inflict the sort of terrible violence Aztec players in Civ games love to inflict. It’s a brilliant move on Firaxis’ part: They get what they want, and nobody feels left out. So go ahead and preorder Civ 6 right now—or don’t, and don’t worry about it too much. You’re good either way.
