The “limited” in BioShock Limited Edition: Why only EBGames/Gamestop?

Even though fans of BioShock seem to be in a rootin-tootin’ funk on getting the Collector’s Edition they wanted from 2K Games and Irrational Games, others felt a bit off when they heard that the publishers struck a deal with EBGames and Gamestop. For some reason, the availability of the Limited Edition was too… well, limited.

So while fans were complaining that they wouldn’t be able to use some stock gift certificates to buy the Limited Edition in other stores, 1Up decided to contact Elizabeth Tobey of 2K Games and asked what happened:

Typically we would have started a limited edition six months ago, but even with our looming production deadlines we’re trying to listen to the community and fans — in choosing the contents based on the poll, and in designing the front of the box. With our current timeline, I don’t think we could make 500,000 copies of the LE to get out to every retailer just given production times on the figurine alone. So we were looking at a very limited quantity, and we were fortunate that GameStop and EB would pick it up on such a short notice. Given the limited quantity, if we were to spread it out over every retailer we would be looking at maybe two copies per store, and that’s not fair to anyone.

She does have a point. Both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of BioShock (and the Limited Edition counterparts) will be simultaneously released on August 21.

Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Bioshock (PC)]

Even though fans of BioShock seem to be in a rootin-tootin’ funk on getting the Collector’s Edition they wanted from 2K Games and Irrational Games, others felt a bit off when they heard that the publishers struck a deal with EBGames and Gamestop. For some reason, the availability of the Limited Edition was too… well, limited.

So while fans were complaining that they wouldn’t be able to use some stock gift certificates to buy the Limited Edition in other stores, 1Up decided to contact Elizabeth Tobey of 2K Games and asked what happened:

Typically we would have started a limited edition six months ago, but even with our looming production deadlines we’re trying to listen to the community and fans — in choosing the contents based on the poll, and in designing the front of the box. With our current timeline, I don’t think we could make 500,000 copies of the LE to get out to every retailer just given production times on the figurine alone. So we were looking at a very limited quantity, and we were fortunate that GameStop and EB would pick it up on such a short notice. Given the limited quantity, if we were to spread it out over every retailer we would be looking at maybe two copies per store, and that’s not fair to anyone.

She does have a point. Both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of BioShock (and the Limited Edition counterparts) will be simultaneously released on August 21.

Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Bioshock (PC)]