The era of extravagant multi-hundred thousand dollar collector's editions appears to have passed around a decade ago but one digging VR game has brought it back with a bang, or whatever noise excavators make.
Dig VR, as you might be able to imagine, is a VR game about digging. It releases November 14. Available as a preorder for £11 / $15, which goes up to £15 / $20 at launch, a new ludicrously over-the-top deluxe edition was just announced that can be all yours for a measly £500,000.
The main attraction here is two JCB 100c-2 excavators, each with unique wraps. One is a shiny yellow with Dig VR plastered on it, in lieu of the JCB logo, and another has Ashville Aggregates, an aggregate company on it. Delivery is not included in this price tag so you will have to cover those yourself, which means custom duties and import taxes if you live outside of the UK. If you want to buy it right now (for some reason), it could take up to six months to arrive.
As well as these excavators, you get a tour of JCB, a trip to "dig this", a 'heavy equipment playground' in Las Vegas, a Meta Quest 3 with a code for the game, a custom hard hat and hi-vis jacket, a family ticket to 'Diggerland', and, most importantly, a bonus sticker sheet.
Games getting marketing through expensive collector's editions is a bit of a fond pastime in gaming, though seems to be a bit rarer in the last ten years or so. Here is a list of some of the most iconic:
- Saint's Row 4: Super Dangerous Wad-Wad edition that includes plastic surgery, a Lamborghini, and more (which Ars Technica pointed out wasn't a great deal)
- Dying Light: My Apocalypse Edition that included a "Custom built zombie-proof shelter"
- Grid 2 Mono Edition that comes with a 170 mph supercar
Best VR headset: which kit should you choose?
Best graphics card: you need serious GPU power for VR
Best gaming laptop: don't get tied to your desktop in VR
In a conversation with multiple PR representatives, I was told a lot of the reason we don't tend to see this style of marketing as much anymore is partially down to the rise of digital games and lower production costs for digital-only content versus, say, an excavator.
The profit on these huge physical editions isn't the main pull, of course, but for some, it is much easier, and more cost-effective to get marketing through other means. Ironically, the less that marketing relies on those big editions, the more of an impact they have when they get released.
Of course, the point of these hyper-expensive collector's editions is to get people talking (and writing) about them and Dig VR, with all its excavator-related goodies has pulled me in too. Though it's really that sticker book I'm after.
