Abstract
Consumers can preorder videogames months ahead of their launch to the market and receive them once they become available. Our study explores the motives of videogame players in purchasing via preorders, and highlights the unique patterns in the early adoption of new videogames. Adopting a qualitative approach, we identified and classified common emerging themes: (1) Purchase oriented themes: securing the purchase, risk absence, and multiple sources of information based on the type of innovation; and (2) Adoption oriented themes: trialability versus discovery, desire for status versus desire for process, and curiosity versus defined expectations.