PlayStation Admits PS5 Pre-Orders Could be “Smoother”

PlayStation has issued a public apology for its shortage of PS5 units as stores continue to grey the console out of its pre-order pages.

In a tweet, the company promised its anticipated next-generation console would be back in stock across the “end of the year” as it looms over the November 12, 2020 launch worldwide.

“We truly apologize for that,” PlayStation stated to customers who found pre-orders running out in minutes to seconds across online retailers. Other retailers, including Shoppers Drug Mart were also subject to website crashes and page hangs due to an overwhelming amount of traffic from users. These also kept prospective PS5 owners away from their pre-orders, with orders even cancelling mid-purchase from empty stocks.

Pre-orders for the PS5 started as early as its reveal earlier in Summer 2020. PlayStation followers could subscribe to email lists from partnered retailers, while users could also take part in a lottery-type registration to gain a guaranteed pre-order spot once pre-orders were live. But as soon as the news dropped following the latest PS5 games showcase, the internet quickly ran dry of consoles.

According to GamesIndustry, the company says it’s not planning to change its scale of manufactured consoles and is sticking to the same inventory for demand.

“We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production,” Sony stated, after it promised more PS5 units on the way for online retailers. Currently, they have also teased more details “over the next few days” about an easier and accessible process for hungry shoppers as they continue refreshing their product pages.

The PS5’s price and launch date were revealed last week, with the console going up to $629.99 CAD for the regular disc-based version and $499.99 CAD for the digital-only version without the drive.