There has been growing resistance to pre-ordering games among several online gaming communities lately, especially after numerous high profile games launched within the last two years with game-breaking bugs and major server problems.

After the fiasco that was the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight, it is hard to deny that buying a game before it releases is not always a safe bet, but publishers continue to entice (or threaten) gamers into pre-ordering by offering exclusive bonuses that can’t be obtained in any other way.

Total War: Warhammer developer Creative Assembly Ltd recently learned firsthand how much the tide has turned against pre-order bonuses when it announced that fans who pre-order the game would receive exclusive access to the Chaos Warriors faction as a playable race in the game. Many fans have cried foul on the move to make an entire faction playable only for users who pre-order, and Creative Assembly seems to be somewhat surprised by the reaction.

“We didn’t want to disappoint people,” Total War: Warhammer game designer Richard Aldridge told Eurogamer in a recent interview. “We actually thought by adding more content, that would make it an exciting pre-order proposition for them. But certainly all of the criticism that we’ve taken and the comments that have been made, we have been absorbing and taking on board for future products.”

“It’s disheartening, you know.”

The original video announcement for the Total War: Warhammer pre-order bonus has received over 41,000 dislikes on YouTube, compared to just over 3,000 likes. Aldridge said that he was disappointed by the intensely negative reaction from fans, saying, “It’s disheartening, you know.”

While Aldridge admitted that there seems to be a growing trend with some games holding content hostage under the guise of a pre-order bonus, he denied that Creative Assembly was trying to do the same thing.

“Again, I’d just like to stress that we feel that by adding the additional content that actually the users get a far better game in the long term,” Aldridge said. “And, obviously, it is their decision whether they wish to purchase now or in the future. We leave that open to them.”

Image courtesy of Creative Assembly Ltd