Over the last few years, Strictly Limited Games has been subject to a lot of deserved criticism over the lengthy shipping delays experienced by customers pre-ordering products from their site.
The Turrican Ultra Collector's Edition, for instance, took 2-3 years from the initial preorders opening for people to get their hands on the set, while Ray’z Arcade Chronology has now been delayed to 2024, despite initially going on sale back in August 2022. It has led some online to swear off buying anything else from the company and to take to Facebook and Twitter in order to request that it provide them with more detailed production updates on when their items will finally arrive. Safe to say, transparency hasn't been the best, with a lot of these requests being met with silence. But now the company has issued a lengthy statement on its website (as spotted by WhyNowGaming), which seeks to address some of these concerns and introduce some potential solutions to these problems.
In the statement, Strictly Limited Games denied the company was going bankrupt, before owning up to its poor communication:
"We are fully aware that our communication hasn't been the best, to say the least, and hasn't met our standards. We hear you, truly."
It then went on to give reasons why three more of its products, which were initially set for a Summer 2023 release, such as Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation, Steel Empire Chronicles, and Dariusburst CS CORE + TAITO / SEGA PACK have also faced delays to a later date.
In the case of Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation, Strictly Limited Games states that this had to do with the production of items for the Collector's Edition taking way longer than expected, due to having to rework the mold for the Tengu that is included as a bonus incentive in the Collector's Edition. Meanwhile, in the case of Steel Empire Chronicles, one of its games Steel Empire HD failed to pass the first-party certification process, "disrupting" the company's original planning. As for Dariusburst CS CORE + TAITO / SEGA PACK, Strictly Limited Games simply says it took them "much longer than planned" and accepted that was "our responsibility". It then went on to clarify that "these are not excuses but insights into certain production issues".
Strictly Limited Games ended the post with two potential solutions. The first is "Speedrun" — a new trial initiative where the company will "invest all necessary development efforts upfront to ensure immediate shipping", while the second is a production tracker that will be implemented directly on the product page to communicate delays and show customers whether a game is in development, testing, or production.
It's certainly a start, but we want to hear your thoughts. Do you think this is enough to make you want to order from the company in the future? Or are there any other steps you feel the company should be taking to put customers' minds at rest? Let us know!
[source strictlylimitedgames.com, via whynowgaming.com]
Comments 13
Or how about not putting things up for order until they are available or at least put them up for preorder just before shipping?
Too many companies do this and customer service is usually silent for months.
It is OK to give people bad news.
Sounds like a company that doesn't have much cashflow and needs preorders to fund it.
How long have Strictly Limited been operating now and they still run into issues where things take 'way longer than expected'?
For me, the damage has been done. They have a poor business model that relies on customers bank rolling them for years before they receive a product. I'm sure that if they didn't have the year long pre order scheme, they'd go out of business pretty quick.
With these long lead times, extortionate prices and often a substandard product at the end of it, I'll never be using Strictly Limited again.
It's just a shame that so many people are happy to put up with them.
It's nice to have a little bit of an update of what's going on, but the fact it only took them this long to respond after how long with new games needing to take even longer is ridiculous. I ordered the collectors edition of Dariusburst CS Core not know how bad the wait would truly be, as I thought that they were way better than LRG because their collectors editions were way cheaper and had better value. Little did I know that I would be getting this probably after I get my collectors editions of both Trip World DX and Gimmick Special Edition. This better start immediately or else I'm not buying from them until they get their actual copies fully on sale and not pre order
I think the whole pre-order-limited-run business model has already jumped the shark. To many averages releases, too many delays, too many dodgy operators. Throw in cost of living issues and I think we’re collectively done…
Have Limited Run ever made any statements about their similar delays? It's such a bad way to do business, yet these companies are all doing it the same way! Even the UK outfit Lost In Cult is doing it.
I preordered Ray'Z Arcade Chronology, but I won't be ordering from them again. There's no excuse for these ridiculous wait times.
@UK_Kev Using preorders to judge how many to make. What a novel idea. I can only imagine if Nintendo had such an innovate idea!
Yeah, I'm never going to stop being bitter about Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition. When I tried to preorder at GameStop and was told "they sold out in a week" when the game was still many months away from release, I just can't feel bad for whatever money Nintendo lost to piracy on that game.
An absolute dumpster fire of a company. Tbh their carry on has only convinced me that physical going forward is a waste of time and has pushed me towards digital only.
Its a shame they only started communicating with their consumers when it got bad enough that rumours they were going bankrupt started to spread.
Ship me my 4 games and then I'm done with them. I'll rely on Japanese import retail instead.
I used to get excited when a game was announced as getting a physical release through a boutique publisher like Limited Run, Strictly Limited, Super Rare, etc. Now, I just cringe and sigh heavily.
I have bought dozens of games from these publishers because I really love collecting physical editions. But I am completely fed up with the limited order windows, years-long waits for shipments, and even worse, seeing the same games go up for sale on Playasia or Best Buy or even Amazon at the same price, with no wait.
My #1 gripe with these companies is how horrible they are at communication. If they just posted regular shipment updates - even only once a month! - and perhaps made some videos or long-form posts explaining the production process and why it takes so long to fulfill orders, that would go a long way toward easing tensions and keeping customers happy.
I have three pending game orders affected by the Strictly Limited delays, nine with Limited Run, and two others with smaller companies, making 14 games I bought earlier this year that I won't get until next year. Idiots like me are part of the problem. I just wish there was an alternative, and unfortunately it has increasingly been "don't buy games, just accept the fact that you can't / won't be able to own them physically unless you support bad business practices."
This reminds me of how the "companies" that make games for classic systems (pre-crash systems) tend to operate. But even these "companies" are only a couple to a few months before shipping.
I put "companies" in quotes because they are generally one-person operations — and often side-gigs for that person as well.
For a real company, these type of continual delays are inexcusable.
@gingerbeardman LRG's only saving grace compared to SLG is that they do time-limited runs. SLG really tickles your FOMO with "LOW STOCK!" stickers.
That said, that alone may not mean much in the end. I haven't bought anything off of them for about a year now.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...