Warner Brothers Interactive announced today that the planned release of the premium Batmobile Edition of the upcoming "Batman: Arkham Knight" will be cancelled, and the product will no longer be available for preorders with different retailers worldwide. The cancellation comes just a few days from the July 23 release of the Batman Arkham title for different console platforms.
Reports are coming in that Warner had allegedly discovered quality issues with the transformable Batmobile figure packaged with the US$ 200 / £170 / €200 set, which also includes an 80-page art book, steel book case, three exclusive New 52 Batman skins for the game, and a limited edition DC comic book alongside the game. Specific details were not provided however, as to the nature of the quality issues discovered.
The Batmobile figure is produced by gaming replica creator TriForce, LLC from New York.
A statement to gaming site Kotaku.com from Warner Brothers and Rocksteady Games reads: "We regret to inform you that we are not able to release the Batmobile Collector's Edition of Batman: Arkham Knight due to unforeseen circumstances that greatly compromised the quality of this extremely limited run of product. We are deeply apologetic for this unfortunate outcome."
In place of the cancelled release, Warner will release a Special Edition set of Batman: Arkham Knight, which contains all of the aforementioned except the Batmobile figure.
Customers from North America, Europe and Australia who had placed preorders for the cancelled Batmobile Edition have received emails detailing special offers relating to the product recall. However, the offers varied by territory, with Stevivor.com reporting that Australian customers being offered the Special Edition of the game by retailers at a reduced rate, while UK fans get a £20 discount on the Batman: Arkham Knight Red Hood Edition if they placed their preorders at GAME stores.
As a token of their apologies, Rocksteady and Warner Brothers are also offering the skin pack, which includes Batman, Robin and Nightwing, for all customers free of charge.
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