It's a combination of things. On the gamer side there is a cultural need for instant gratification. The virtue of patience is lost to us. Instead of being willing to wait for a finished product, they want it out on its release date. They have become complacent in this cycle of companies releasing an unrefined game and buying it even before it hits the selves through pre-order. With the pre-order, the companies promise stuff that will not be available to the general public after release. The items for the most part is completely cosmetic with little to absolutely no value to the game. If the item has any kind of value it is middle grade at best. On the industry side, the companies know the gamers will buy their product if it looks cool enough, it does not matter if the product is finished or not. There is also the climate of greed. They are in the business of making money. The pre-order now, DLC later strategy makes a lot of money. The strategy works. We can also blame the gamers for this because they make that strategy work. It is this greed that makes them release their product around the heavy shopping season and makes them scared to death to release it later than that.