Pre-order bonuses are nothing new to the gaming industry, it has become a standard to reward players who support the game before it releases, and real-time strategy game 'Steel Division: Normandy 1944' revealed their early-bird rewards today.
In a multiplayer focused game, it can be a fine line between rewarding players and ruining the balance of it. DICE messed with the balance in Star Wars Battlefront by giving away one of the best weapons as a pre-order bonus, for example. Though it was nice of DICE to reward early purchasers it made the game rather unbalanced at times.
Eugene Systems and Paradox Interactive seem to also be balancing on this fine line between rewarding and messing with multiplayer balance in Steel Division: Normandy 1944. The first pre-order bonus is nothing to worry about, it is access to the rather exclusive beta during the weeks leading up to release. The other bonus could be a bit problematic in multiplayer with the "two historical Panzer aces you can deploy in battle".
"Michael Wittman, one of the most feared commanders in the late war, famed for his ambush at Villiers-Bocage. (Tiger E)
Francis Gabreski, He was the top American and U.S. Army Air Forces fighter ace over Europe in World War II (USA, P-47D fight-bomber)"
Steel Division: Normandy 1944 is set for release on May 23, and we have to wait and see how these pre-order units impact the game.
Interested in seeing what else Paradox got in their library? Then check out their Publisher Weekend sale on Steam
