Special collector editions of games nowadays tend to vary based on the studio, but you can usually expect a number of things. Some have special statues, others artbooks and soundtracks. You can count on there actually being a physical copy of the game inside the box though can’t you?

Seems not. People who ordered the PC limited edition of the Might & Magic Heroes VII were surprised to receive their deliveries with a big hole where their copy of the CD and DVD ought to have been. And it’s not as if it was just what they expected – the limited edition was advertised to contain a physical copy of the game among other things.

A lengthy thread on Ubisoft’s message boards revealed in time that it wasn’t a few isolated incidents either, it seems a lot of people who ordered this version in the US were missing their physical game discs. It was eventually discovered that Ubisoft had changed the description of the game after a number of people had already purchased it, meaning that people had paid out for something that they hadn’t then gotten. The new description made it clear that the limited edition would now ship out with a digital copy of the game – not a physical copy as you would expect from a collector’s edition.

Ubisoft then refused to refund customers who were upset and felt cheated out of a copy of the game they now didn’t have. Because the limited edition was now listed as having come with a digital download Ubisoft refused to refund the money, as the code could have already been used. However, not happy with this the customers took to Reddit to complain and the attention it gathered caught Ubisoft’s attention and made them change their minds on the matter

Unfortunately this does mean that the customers will not be getting their physical game copies after all, but at least people are getting their money back.

Credit to melchior1090 for the image of the limited edition minus copy of game.