Folks who spent up to $100 for War for Cybertron preorder codes on eBay are going to kick themselves, as a listing on the Xbox website for the game's first map pack indicates that all three preorder characters are included.
This is why we don't buy preorder codes on eBay Released just last week and garnering surprisingly positive reviews, Transformers: War for Cybertron features a robust multiplayer component. To entice players to reserve copies at Best Buy, Amazon.com, and GameStop, Activision supplied retailer-exclusive preorder codes that unlocked Shockwave, Demolishor, and Jazz character models for online play.
Earlier this week we ran a story on the outrageous prices players were paying for these character codes on eBay.
Now Kotaku reader ChrisRiss points us to a listing that recently appeared on the UK version Xbox.com for the prepaid code version of "Map and Character Pack #1" for the game. The listing indicates the pack contains two new maps for standard multiplayer, two Escalation mode maps, and five new characters for online multiplayer, including the three preorder bonuses.
Become the ultimate weapon and wage war in four new maps – engage in multiplayer combat in HAVOC and FORTRESS or fend off waves of Autobots in DISTRICT, and Decepticons in FORSAKEN, two new Escalation mode maps. Also gain access to 5 characters and their chassis for use in Escalation mode and Multiplayer character creation; SCATTERSHOT, ONSLAUGHT, DEMOLISHOR, SHOCKWAVE and JAZZ are ready for battle. Fight to the end in the war that started it all! There are no refunds for this item.
Mind that last sentence there, eBayers: "There are no refunds for this item."
Mind you this isn't the official listing for the DLC pack you will be buying whenever Activision decides to release it, but it seems unlikely that the text included in the listing is merely placeholder. Activision could still remove the three preorder characters before the pack is released, though that doesn't seem likely.
Plus, there's no price listing, though I'm guessing it'll go for a lot less than the $100 people were paying for Demolishor at the world's largest online auction house.
We've reached out to Activision for comment on this story, and will update should we receive a response.