Several retailers are already selling Fallout 4 pre orders.

Bethesda http://store.gamesas.com/fallout-4.html

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Fallout-4-Xbox-One/dp/B00YQ1NOPM

Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/377160/

And a few others have already made the game available to pre order!

From these we may actually observe a number a of things.

Firstly, Bethesda must have tremendous confidence in its game and its distributors to make it available so quickly.

Secondly, the game is confirmed for next-gen consoles and PC.

Thirdly, the game does not appear to be available for PS3 and Xbox360

Amazon has also accidentally leaked the expected release date of the game (December 31, 2015). This will likely be taken down from Amazon and this thread will likely be removed or edited, but there you have the first released date for the game! Keep in mind it will likely be pushed back a bit, but it's out there!

Also, there are discounts being offered for PC customers if you go to the following links: (23% Off Green Man Gaming)

http://www.destructoid.com/fallout-4-pre-order-deal-available-now-at-gmg-293239.phtml

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/get-fallout-4-pc-for-46-via-preorder/1100-6427795/

Disclaimer: I am not associated with that company/site in any form and do not benefit at all from the disclosure.

So what do you think of this possibly premature prerelease?

Would you seriously consider buying the game this early with that offer, which will likely be the only discounted version available? Keep in mind that it ends within 48 hours of the announcement's release.

Do you think it will be released for older consoles?

Share all of your thoughts below and I will try to keep you posted!

-The Boomlord

I think pre ordering a game has been a thing for quite awhile now and don't see what the big deal is.

Dec 31st is the industry standard placeholder date for any game without a known release date.

I am not going to pre-order yet. Chances are I will at some point do so, but not now.

Look at STEAM. #2 under Top Selling games w/ Fallout 3 being on #10

the thirst is real

Most games wait about 7-28 days before they actually allow distributors, licensors, etc. to sell the game. This is to allow the developer to capitalize on its loyal and eager portion of the fanbase that it believes it cannot possibly disappoint. The big deal is that they're letting other people sell the game at the same time as them and that they are willing to make it available so quickly. I would have waited for E3, personally.

I will get my money back from GMG if [censored] his the fan.. However, I know I will get it from them in the end for the agreed upon price.

That's true, but Amazon normally wouldn't give a date like that without permission. It makes Bethesda look bad publicly if the date doesn't hold up and goes past the given date and also places Amazon liable to malicious lawsuits. It's odd that a distributor would give a date when the developer would not... unless it was a real date they weren't supposed to give. It's speculation, but it's odd.

I personally don't trust GMG. The deal seems too early and too good to be true for a game that doesn't even have an official release date yet. I'll pay my extra $16 and get the security that comes with it. I'm not buying it yet until some kind of bonus for pre-ordering is available and I'll likely hold out until after E3. I'm 99.9999999999999999999% sure I'm getting the game, though.

well the early info leaks all seem to be panning out, and they predicted a February 2016 release date. I would never expect Beth to reveal a game and then release it in the same year. Maybe they are trying something new? I certainly hope so

The leaks actually suggested a Oct 2015 release date

and given that the pre order cupon things from the offical fallout 4 site expire in oct of this year........

But i bought like all the good games of the last 3 years via GMG sales (as in pre-order).. I would say there is the presence of security for me. I am a happy customer of their store for quite a bit so I do trust them.

What part of "placeholder date" did you not understand?

When any site has stated Dec 31st for a game's release, it is known that it means... "This is only a placeholder date, it's not official and subject to change. The developers did not give us any date, so we use the placeholder one."

Not to irritate you, but frivolous lawsuit is an easy game to play. Amazon's user policy states that if a date cannot be found or has not been released, it will not be posted. So why did they put a date? And if it is clearly in violation of their policy, why would they STILL do it?!

More than that, any game released in the winter will be released in time for Christmas shopping, which December 31st is definitely not.

extra funding and gives bethsida, investors, devs, etc. a metric for popularity of sorts.

Has anyone found an offer for the game for the older consoles? I haven't and it doesn't look like the game will be released for them.

The only reliable release date is the one Bethesda will be giving at some point. No one in their right mind would release a game right after Christmas.

Also, pre-order lets them adjust the budget along the way. If the pre-order sales are huge they can estimate the overall sales of the game and add/subtract content/time during production. Basically, the higher the pre-order sales, the more money the are allowed to put into it.

We will know a release date at E3.. And it won't be a long wait because this game looks almost done.

I'm not actually so surprised that they released the game this early but that they let others sell it. Right now, the most die-hard fans that will buy the game no matter what are buying it. Usually in this time, companies capitalize on their loyal fan base and sell the game exclusively and only after a major conference or more detailed trailer is released do they allow other companies to sell it. The thing is, they make a royalty and licensing fees off of what other companies sell, but they actually receive less money than they would should they have sold the game directly. Companies go to distributors to reach more people, but during this period in which the people that will buy the game from anyone for any price are buying the game, they are losing out on guaranteed sales. Now they have companies like Green Man Gaming that are undercutting their price and while they still receive the say, 70% royalties, they still miss out on the 30% that's mark-up. Bethesda matches distributor prices to make more money despite the lack of a need for the extra mark-up, but with these sales they are not selling games and are missing out on the mark-ups. Why would they allow other companies to sell the game so early?

Keeping my fingers crossed for a June 15th release.

LOL, me too, bro!

Update: Fallout 4 will not be released for PS3, Xbox360. As the next gen consoles are not backwards compatible, you will have to upgrade or play on PC to play the game!

Sorry if this inconveniences you. Not like I'm part of Bethesda, but I feel empathy on some level.

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-4-officially-confirmed-for-pc-xbox-one-ps4/1100-6427776/

It's not a leak or a mistake, Amazon does this for video games all the time. For example, all these following games do not have official release dates anywhere, but Amazon still has all of them being released on Dec. 31st:

http://www.amazon.com/Need-Speed-PlayStation-4/dp/B00XWQZP9K/ref=sr_1_13?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1433390438&sr=1-13 - Dec. 31st http://www.amazon.com/Doom-PlayStation-4/dp/B00M3D8IYM/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1433392396&sr=1-2&keywords=doom - Dec. 31st http://www.amazon.com/Deus-Ex-Mankind-Divided-PlayStation-4/dp/B00VQZOIAG/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1433390049&sr=1-1 - Dec. 31st http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Island-2-PlayStation-4/dp/B00KVU378G/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1433391255&sr=1-2 - Dec. 31st.

The only difference is that some have a 2016 date while other games have a 2015 date. Does that mean anything? I don't know, but I wouldn't put too much confidence into it.

I feel bad for the number of people who are buying FO3 only to realize it won't work on their PC.