Last Sunday Bethesda kicked off E3, wowing everyone with a look at the anticipated Fallout 4. Company PR and Marketing VP, Pete Hines then proceeded to shake the hornets nest by announcing a collector’s edition of the game that comes with a life sized replica of the iconic Pip-Boy allowing you to pop in your smartphone and utilize an app that ties into the main game. So shiny, so chrome.
So gone.
If you call into retailers asking if they still have any available, you’ll be greeted by the pause, an intake of breath as they regather patience, and then a launch of the usual spiel of apologies and explanation. You get the feeling they might have had to said these same words multiple times a day. You get the same when you go to Amazon, the Bethesda store and just about any other reputable retailer.
It is easy to see how something as charming as this collector’s edition would fly off the shelves and that’s exactly what’s happened, disappointing fans in the process. You would have hoped that a company as aware of their fanbase as Bethesda typically is would have anticipated the demand and created the allocation amounts necessary to satisfy it.
Via his Twitter account, Hines has announced that Bethesda is working to attain more of the coveted editions to retailers, but kept vague about which stores would be getting the hypothetical extra Pip-Boys. They’re also working to review pending purchases from people who ordered multiple units through their main site’s store with the intent to nip the resellers, a practice similar to what we’ve seen recently with Amiibos and other hotcake products. Between all the flack he’s catching over Fallout Shelter (A currently ioS exclusive, addictive, though slightly buggy mobile game) and the now sold out collector’s edition, I’m feeling pretty bad for him.
Fallout 4 comes to PS4, XB1 and PC on November 10, 2015.
