There is no benefit from it or any discount as far as I know.
Can someone explain me, why we should pre order it instead of waiting for the release and maybe get more infos?
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If you play AoE2 DE you get the new Dawn of The Dukes DLC for free, so you are saving $10
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ah jeah saw it in small letters 
but I donāt play it.
the same as pre ordering any game, not any real benefits
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Usually, none, except for some gate locked content (pre-order bonuses).
For IV thereās a very nice bonus, mentioned (great!) DLC for AoE II:DE.
Preordering generally works for products with a limited quantity and/or special, collector editions that are very scarce and quickly get expensive after stock runs dry.
Code for a digital copy of a game? Not too much except supporting developers. But itās always a gamble. Not so much here- after beta is obvious IV is not some scam or blunder 
For consoles maybe, but for PC marketā¦ I donāt like that biz side of publishing culture, centered around preorder/opening week sales. Games on PC have unlimited āshelfā life and can sell for decades!
I get it, fiscal year, CEO bonuses etc. but itās not great for devs or customers, both feeling a bit guilty because people not throwing away their money day1 fast enough 
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Yeah I pretty much treated it as a ādiscountā for the game.
The DLC is great! love the bohemains and polish.
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Paying for the dlc is better than this game with āāthe bonusāā
To show your support for the franchises?
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I preordered because I wanted Dawn of the Dukes for free and was going to buy AoE4 anyway. If you donāt play AoE2 or donāt see that as a worthy deal, thereās minimal advantages. Buying it now in case you donāt have money for later on release, maybe? Itās not like stores are going to run out of physical copies or anything. Overall, thereās a benefit, but itās so minor that frankly I think thatās a good thing. This isnāt a predatory āPRE-ORDER TO GET ALL THE CONTENT AND EXCLUSIVE SKINSā horseshit scam. You get a cheap DLC for a game for free. Pre-ordering if you donāt care about that is basically little more than a āSo I donāt forget laterā deal, which is what all pre-orders should be.
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Pre-orders are there to give the publishers a more direct way to see how well their marketing is doing.
It also helps their finances because they can plan their income better (unless a lot of people cancel their pre-order).
For the consumers there isnāt really any advantage. Some companies make small pre-order bonuses like the AoE2 DLC you get when pre-ordering AoE4.
With pre-ordering you are basically telling them that you trust into them delivering a good product.
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I preordered to show my support for the AOE franchise. Hereās hoping they let us zoom out far enough to see trebuchets in action.
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In the pre-order, do you get the physical copy or a download on release?
I am a collector.
You donāt get a physical copy. Im pretty sure you can only pre-order on steam or xbox gamepass. (software downloads)
You can contact a game store if you want a physical copy perhaps?
Usually if you preorder on Steam or whatever, you just get the same digital game. I donāt think a physical version has been announced, so there might not be one.
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I checked Amazon, there doesnāt seem to be a physical game. Sorry!
Back to the day, when there were physical versions of games with goodies, or collectorās editions and soā¦ it was great, and pre-ordering was so common. Now I donāt see the point either.
I have been playing AoE since the very first one, itās one of my favorite franchises ever, but so many things have changed with time. I did instabuy all the Definitive Editions on release because were top-notch remasters, and at least two of them were made by The Forgotten (the third Iām still not sure, main dev was Tantalus I think?), who are absolute AoE fans that truly care about the games.
But if Iām gonna invest 60ā¬ (70$) in a game, I want to know if itās gonna get more attention and content post-release. I know it most likely will (there are plenty of civs to be added), but I miss some kind of approximate roadmap here tbh. I like how Microsoft/Xbox is doing things these last years, Iām honestly positively surprisedā¦ but I still remember the nonsensical, traumatic Ensemble Studios closure and the Age of Empires Online failed experiment (thankfully Project Celeste is there).
I have to thank them for putting the game on GamePass on release, tho, since it will be the best way to test the whole vanilla experience and make a more contrasted decision.
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Maybe its just the millenial of me, but I canāt imagine paying $ for something that isnt physically a possession
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Yeah these days they are so afraid about giving early access to the pre-order player
they waited 3months++ for the beta like this player cant be refund because of the 3months policies of steam
we are nearing the death of dvds.
thats just how it is unfortunately.
weāve just moved on technologically, most laptops donāt even come with a cd drive anymore.
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Yeah I had a huge CD and DVD/Blu-ray collection for a long time, but nowadays I just try to get rid of all my physical media. It simplifies your life, which is nice.
Still got a 4K Blu-ray player though, so I can rent 4K Blu-rays on occasion.
For games, I accepted the digital switch much earlier for some reason. Go figure.
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