Gamers were hit with some disheartening news this week. Retailers of the highly anticipated PlayStation5 next-gen consoles are warning that delays in the delivery of pre-orders may, in fact, stretch well into 2021. This word has dashed many gamer’s hopes of receiving their PS5 at launch.
In specific, reports are indicating that an increasing number of retailers are stating that they will not be able to fulfill those day-one pre-orders made by PS5 customers. GameStop in Ireland has gone so far as to say that they will not be able to fulfill console orders until 2021.
One has to wonder just why these issues are happening and what is happening behind the scenes. Given that we are still amid a global pandemic, the process of shipping out such a significant number of consoles, in order to meet demand, is pretty much assumed to be a tall task at bet.
With this in mind, undoubtedly, many customers and gamers were willing to cut Sony some slack when it comes to all things PS5. That is until the gaming giant made such a fiasco and bungled up the pre-order launch of the next-gen console.
Sony had continually assured gamers and customers that they would give them plenty of time with a heads up before taking the pre-orders live. However, what happened was that Sony only offered a notice of twelve hours, at best, for those interested in purchasing to prepare. That notice, instead of being blasted across all the company’s communications channels, was announced via a simple tweet on their Twitter page.
What made the entire situation even worse is that many retailers chose to go against the instructions laid out by Sony and unfortunately jumped the gun. With the launching of pre-orders earlier than authorized, a massive free-for-all was triggered that saw millions scrambling to try and secure a PS5 for the day of launch. As a result, the console sold out in a matter of a few hours.
When all was said and done and the dust had settled, gamers were given a rude awakening. Those lucky individuals who were able to have snagged a confirmation of a pre-order began to soon receive emails that warned of potential delivery delays. One such retailer was the online juggernaut Amazon, which stated in their emails that they were unable to guarantee that the console ordered would be arriving on day one.
Now, as a few weeks have passed, the situation is looking worse rather than better. European retailers are now being advised by Sony of the reduction in allocations that will be made available for their launch day. This has prompted those UK retailers to take a play from Amazon’s book and inform their customers that it appears they will not be receiving their PS5 pre-orders on release day either.
Citing “circumstances out of our control,” GameStop in Ireland has emailed customers with the somewhat disappointing news that their pre-orders will not be filled until next year. With having the wait until 2021, the whole purpose and intent of even pre-ordering are rendered mute.