WWSM (STEAM) release date moved to Nov 17th?

[Hauler24]

Just for confirmation and clarity - WWSM via Amazon and Steam will be available from November 17th. Apologies for the confusion caused by the initial date listed on Steam - that was an error that was erctified as soon as it was discovered.

This is not true about Amazon. I called Amazon and they told me that they would not be releasing the game until the 18th and they say its because they haven't gotten the game yet or won't get it until the 18th. So who is telling the truth matt?

If you want prove all you have to do is go to Amazon and type in the name and click the bar and bring up the game and it will say, "This item will be released on November 18, 2008".

[Macflyer]

This is not true about Amazon. I called Amazon and they told me that they would not be releasing the game until the 18th and they say its because they haven't gotten the game yet or won't get it until the 18th. So who is telling the truth matt?

If you want prove all you have to do is go to Amazon and type in the name and click the bar and bring up the game and it will say, "This item will be released on November 18, 2008".

I preordered two months ago on amazon-us and they say it will leave their warehouse on Nov 19th. With 2-3 days of shipping....well....I can read a week on the forum about the goods and bads about the new full version........

[Matt ex SEGA]

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here but this, at least from this example, isn't quite true (not accusing you of lying because most of the time it is). But I did find this website that shows release dates on the calender and here is Sega scheduled to releae "Sonic Unleashed" for the ps3 on Friday Dec 12th 2008.

http://game-releases.net/2008/dec/

http://game-releases.net/ps3/sonic-unleashed/

Again I appreciate you taking the time to at least listen.

OK - understand where you're coming from now. There's a terminology issue at work here.

In Europe - games "street" on a friday in 90% of territories. That means, there is a retail release date that retailers are allegedly supposed to stick to, and that is what is conveyed to consumers.

In America - I assume for geographical / logistical reasons - games "ship". So the terminology is more about when they leave warehouse. Games leave on the Tuesday to give every store, in theory, a chance of having their product on shelf on Friday. However - that means some people get their games on the wednesday, some perhaps not til the Saturday if they're in the back end of podunk...

I'm surprised at the Sonic date - I'd wager that they've taken the Euro release date in the absence of any "official" communication - as far as I know, and I'm perfectly prepared to accept I may not be right as it's nothing to do with me - they'll ship from their warehouse on the Tuesday as detailed above.

Hope that helps a little. It's honestly not an attempt to shaft American consumers - as I said, this is the nearest we've ever managed to release WWSM to FM. We'll try and review what we do next year and do better.

Here's an idea. Next year release WWSM first, on the Tuesday before the rest of the world gets FM on Friday. The watch the howls and complaints from our friends in Europe. Then you'll understand why we complain.

I can't say that I'm surprised. This happens every year. SI and Sega want us to support the product, then mislead us, and change things at the last moment.

I wasn't sure whether to stay with FM08 or go to FM09. I think they just made my decision for me. Matt - take that to your superiors.

No chance that's happening, if we're honest. If we could release everywhere, retail and digital, at the same time, we would. As it is, we can't, and have to make choices - and we prioritise the largest market. That's just common sense and happens in this industry, the music industry, films - its swings and roundabouts.

What is fair, is to complain about being mislead - I've already apologised for that, however, and suggested that it was done in error. I'm sorry that you feel let down.

This is not true about Amazon. I called Amazon and they told me that they would not be releasing the game until the 18th and they say its because they haven't gotten the game yet or won't get it until the 18th. So who is telling the truth matt?

If you want prove all you have to do is go to Amazon and type in the name and click the bar and bring up the game and it will say, "This item will be released on November 18, 2008".

I don't know anything about that, but will ask. The only thing that may have caused that is a logistical problem right at the end of the printing / shipping process, but I can't access any info on that from here. I'll ask overnight tonight.

Cheers

Matt

[Macflyer]

OK - understand where you're coming from now. There's a terminology issue at work here.

Hope that helps a little. It's honestly not an attempt to shaft American consumers - as I said, this is the nearest we've ever managed to release WWSM to FM. We'll try and review what we do next year and do better.

Matt

I have to say that you improved the release a lot. There was no chance for me of getting WWSM in 2006 here in US. I don't know what was wrong back then with amazon, but I remember I tried to order the game for lack of amazon on ebay and had hard times to get a reasonable priced game from overseas ending up with not buying it at all!!!!!!!!! I remember playing the demo over and over again while waiting for WWSM 2007.

Like you said, now it's just a couple of days waiting longer for it to be released but the fact that amazon has to ship and might do so with delay in my case, means, that eventually I will hold my copy in hand on Friday next week. That's okay with me but given the fact that wife leaves this weekend for a business trip and will be arriving Sunday next week that only gives me the Friday night and Saturday of proper playing time wheras it could have been a whole week.........

As for a name change from WWSM to FM: I already can imagine the bunch of angry posts of people coming onto this forums complaining about being lied at when they expected to buy a proper football managing game and gave ended up with "just" soccer.........

But if you really wanna do something good Matt for WWSM's future: try to get in the USL. It's a grwoing franchise and I would like to be able to manage there.

[Atredes71]

Matt's saying to himself, "In a week they'll be happily lost in their games and forgotten all about this", and he's right. Hopefully, we'll all be complaining about the patch or some new bug by then.

"But if you really wanna do something good Matt for WWSM's future: try to get in the USL. It's a grwoing franchise and I would like to be able to manage there." The USL would be cool if American leagues had promotion and relegation. Could that be edited into the game ... ?

[Sweed]

OK - understand where you're coming from now. There's a terminology issue at work here.

In Europe - games "street" on a friday in 90% of territories. That means, there is a retail release date that retailers are allegedly supposed to stick to, and that is what is conveyed to consumers.

In America - I assume for geographical / logistical reasons - games "ship". So the terminology is more about when they leave warehouse. Games leave on the Tuesday to give every store, in theory, a chance of having their product on shelf on Friday. However - that means some people get their games on the wednesday, some perhaps not til the Saturday if they're in the back end of podunk...

I'm surprised at the Sonic date - I'd wager that they've taken the Euro release date in the absence of any "official" communication - as far as I know, and I'm perfectly prepared to accept I may not be right as it's nothing to do with me - they'll ship from their warehouse on the Tuesday as detailed above.

Hope that helps a little. It's honestly not an attempt to shaft American consumers - as I said, this is the nearest we've ever managed to release WWSM to FM. We'll try and review what we do next year and do better.

Cheers

Matt

Ok, Matt thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions. I too, from time to time, have had to be out front taking the complaints of customers trying to explain why things are as they are. It can be quite frustrating and FWIW you handle it well IMHO.

I hope after reviewing this years events that you guys are able to get WWSM moved up to the same as FM, though that sounds unlikely unless Sega pushes for an earlier US release than normal. I'm still having a hard time thinking this is such a big deal when we are talking about only digital download and online ordering from Amazon. I would be more understanding if you were also trying to put the game on the shelves in Wal Mart, Best Buy, and Gamestop etc. But it is what it is.

If nothing else please release a crystal clear world wide release schedule on the same day that the FM-UK date is announced. You will of course get some complaints but at least we'll all know where we stand from the beginning.

[Akaz1976]

Thanks matt for the answers here.

Regarding next year. Is it not possible to keep WWSM brand for North America but at least allow compatibility with FM (treat WWSM like a language option at install). So what we can be patched at the same time and also use the unofficial add-ons.

I would think having one version of the game be cheaper for SI.

Akaz

[Akaz1976]

PS. Any idea if Gogamer ships to Canada?

[Hunt0r]

Hello,

Does anyone here prefer WWSM to FM?

I would prefer to play "Soccer Manager" to "Football Manager". Although, it's really not that big of a deal. But if the two were beside each other on a store shelf, I'd buy WWSM.

To the developers: If you chose not to release WWSM and go with FM only, you wouldn't lose my support.

-Hunter

[Gordon Comstock]

I'm going to recommend that Americans purchase FM from GoGamer rather than WWSM from Amazon/Steam, ESPECIALLY if you're on a Mac.

given that FM will work on our systems, we're guaranteed to get the best treatment that way. with the digital download delayed for Mac for a few weeks. I'm getting a boxed copy of the game from GoGamer with 2 day shipping for $36 - to me, for a physical version and a few extra days of playtime, that's more than worth the premium.

[killface]

That's your decision. I can't change the games industry in America though - games ship on Tuesday there, and street on Friday here. That's the inconsistency, and it's not fixable. Most consumers the world over seem to be able to accept this.... sorry that it's such a specific problem for you.

Games don't have to ship Tuesday here, that's usually just when retailers get their shipments. Since I kinda doubt too many copies are going to be bought by just going to a retailer and picking it up, it shouldn't matter, but oh well. Sucks to have to wait, but meh. By the way, I have always thought WWSM was a silly name, I know you're trying to avoid confusion with American Football, but I really doubt anyone who actually buys FM would be confused.

[Paul_B]

I'm going to recommend that Americans purchase FM from GoGamer rather than WWSM from Amazon/Steam, ESPECIALLY if you're on a Mac.

given that FM will work on our systems, we're guaranteed to get the best treatment that way. with the digital download delayed for Mac for a few weeks. I'm getting a boxed copy of the game from GoGamer with 2 day shipping for $36 - to me, for a physical version and a few extra days of playtime, that's more than worth the premium.

Sorry, but looking at that site I'm 99% certain that you're going to receive WWSM at the same time as everybody else.

The name does say Football Manager 2009, you're right. But look at the release date - November 17th. Look at the price - slightly cheaper than Amazon's WWSM. The UK FM 2009 would cost almost double that and be released on November 14th. They seem to be just using the regular version's graphics - and consequently that name - to sell you Worldwide Soccer Manager.

Let us know how you get on, though!

[sixto]

Maybe someone can explain a major difference between WWSM and FM. If it is just a language issue, that's an odd thing to get worked up about. I personally could care less if they call it soccer or football, as long as its 11 v 11 with a ball and 2 goals. If there is another major difference, then could someone let me know.

The major issue is that third-party editors will not work with WWSM without considerable tweaking - tweaking that is beyond the technical capability of most users (such as me).

The screen does change to say WWSM instead of FM when you actually go to download the game via Steam - but since the logos are so similar, and one may not be expecting what amounts to a bait-and-switch, it's a pretty indifferent way to treat U.S. customers. Buyer beware and all that, but I wasn't on guard against any switcheroos.

I guess if I want third-party editor functionality I will have to cancel my Steam order and order from overseas. One can only wonder what the U.S. market for FM would really be if we didn't have to jump through hoops just to buy a game we love.

[Fredric Drum]

Can anyone explain why release was just delayed by one day on Steam without any notice whatsoever?

[yankee_ram]

Well, I took the plunge and decided to order FM 09 from gogamer rather than WWSM from Steam. It says it ships the 17th but all accounts are that gogamer usually ships the game out early. I'm really hoping that is the case here.

I just did the same thing, paid for priority shipping as well. Lets hope they ship the game out early.

[Akaz1976]

Could you guys confirm that Gogamer is shipping FM and not WWSM!

[Gordon Comstock]

Sorry, but looking at that site I'm 99% certain that you're going to receive WWSM at the same time as everybody else.

The name does say Football Manager 2009, you're right. But look at the release date - November 17th. Look at the price - slightly cheaper than Amazon's WWSM. The UK FM 2009 would cost almost double that and be released on November 14th. They seem to be just using the regular version's graphics - and consequently that name - to sell you Worldwide Soccer Manager.

Let us know how you get on, though!

it's been confirmed that they are import copies of FM09.

[stokes_83]

Email them and find out for yourself.

P.S. are there any others that want to smash something now that the good people in Europe are playing the game and we in the western hemisphere cannot???????????

[Sweed]

Well, I took the plunge and decided to order FM 09 from gogamer rather than WWSM from Steam. It says it ships the 17th but all accounts are that gogamer usually ships the game out early. I'm really hoping that is the case here.

I just did the same thing, paid for priority shipping as well. Lets hope they ship the game out early.

I just did the same. Looking forward to having FM and not having to worry about any delays that may come with WWSM.

FWIW I had preordered from Steam and was reading all of the horror stories here about trying to cancel. I sent them email last night at 9pm with my account info and a copy of the receipt they emailed me. 11:00 this morning I got the email confirming my order had been canceled and a refund to my CC would show up in a couple of day. No muss, no fuss. Kudos to STEAM.

[Hauler24]

Matt any word on why Amazon has decided to not release the game until the 18th. An answer would be fantastic so that I can go to Amazon to see if Im in line for a refund of my shipping cause I find it stupid that I paid for 1 day shipping but yet I may not get the game till the 19th or 20th. I need to know so I can have the proper information so Amazon can either contact SI or so they can come on this forum and make an announcement. Thanks.

[Hauler24]

I will ask again why is the game coming out so late at Amazon US??? What is the issue I need to know.

[mlyons]

The Steam release date looks like it's been pushed back as well -- it still says Nov. 17th, but judging by the "game will unlock in approximately" window, it's actually 11:59 PM on Nov. 17th.

[433tom]

Just for confirmation and clarity - WWSM via Amazon and Steam will be available from November 17th. Apologies for the confusion caused by the initial date listed on Steam - that was an error that was erctified as soon as it was discovered.[/quote

Amazon says the 18th. And while Steam still says the 17th, it also says it will be released in approximately 1 day and 9 hours, which based on the current date and time means November 18.

And the Sega site is just as confusing. It says the PC and MAC versions have been released and then lists the digital download (the link taking you to Steam) as being available on November 18.

[Twellman24]

You know what lol; I just feel relieved now that I preordered FM from gogamer.