'Assassin's Creed 3' Pre-Order Bonuses Detailed in Germany; Already Breaking Records

Mar 30, 2012 by Brian Sipple

Assassin's Creed 3 preorder details revealed

With Assassin’s Creed III’s October release guaranteed to be one of the more ballyhooed events of the fall, it won’t be surprising to see pre-orders of Ubisoft’s American Revolution period piece scaling up the side of charts worldwide. In fact, Ubisoft has announced in their latest presser that the game is doing just that — and leaving Ezio, Altair, and those uncannily accurate rock-throwing guards in the dust.

According to the developer, the three-week period since Assasssin’s Creed III’s official reveal has seen a surge in pre-orders, eclipsing Assassin’s Creed Revelations by a tenfold margin in the same time frame. Ezio Auditore’s final chapter is still the overall record holder for the series’ pre-orders, but Ubisoft anticipates that AC III will surpass that figure in June.

Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft, is justifiably enthused by the news:

“On October 30th players will experience the biggest game launch in Ubisoft’s history with the highly anticipated release of Assassins Creed III. With a development cycle of three years, Assassins Creed III is the true next-generation experience of the Assassins Creed brand. The production value of the game, combined with the biggest marketing commitment we’ve ever made, will make Assassins Creed III the highest-selling Assassin’s Creed game ever.”

Our Assassin’s Creed: Revelations review awarded the game with 4-out-of-5 stars, but it was quite apparent that Ubisoft — and fans — were clamoring for something new. After the copious outpouring of Assassin’s Creed III trailers, story and gameplay details, and screenshots released in March, we’d say that that goal has definitely been fulfilled — and that Ubisoft has earned the fruits of their three-year labor.

But just what can fans expect in return for ordering the game in advance? While the now-customary pre-order perks for Assassin’s Creed III have yet to be revealed in most countries, it appears as though Germany (and thus, the rest of us with Google Translate) is getting their first look at what are some slick new offerings.

The German GameStop and Amazon have both begun advertising their customer incentives for throwing down money early on AC III, and it looks as though single player and multiplayer are both accounted for. A set of advertisment images was grabbed by All Games Beta, and a rough Google translation is enough to extrapolate the basic details:

A Redcoat multiplayer package, which includes a redcoat skin, a snake emblem, and a “doctor doll” relic (Gamestop exclusive).
A single-player package including the “captain” assassin uniform and a handaxe used for boarding ships (Amazon).
A single player package including a “traditional” colonial assassin’s uniform and brass-handled flintlock pistol (Amazon).

Bear in mind that while the German Amazon and GameStops are the only destinations to have unveiled the pre-order bonuses, it shouldn’t be long before the two retailers go global with some array of special content. We also wouldn’t be shocked to see Best Buy, Walmart, and any other store with a video game shelf begin flaunting unique offers of their own; the launch-day anticipation Key alluded to is the perfect marketing opportunity for all forms of the game — including the Assassin’s Creed III Collector’s Editions we detailed last week.

Ranters, does the Ubisoft barometer of Assassin’s Creed III anticipation match yours after a month of constant news on the game (did we mention the 4-player co-op?) What pre-order incentives will you be looking for as you begin organizing purchase plans?

Assassin’s Creed III will release on October 30, 2012, for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.