If you haven’t yet managed to find any PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S consoles in your hopefully online-only Black Friday travels, take comfort in the fact that you definitely aren’t alone. Stock of Sony and Microsoft’s next-generation consoles have been thin on the ground ever since they officially launched over two weeks ago, and unless you happen to already have your name on a wait list at EB Games, a reliable connection at a local Mom n’ Pop game store, or are willing to pay a scalper or bot rental service a small fortune to procure one of these coveted consoles, online purchasing is the only option left to most would-be-buyers, and odds are likely that those efforts will almost certainly be in vain. Even with both Sony and Microsoft pledging their upmost efforts to put out as many additional units as possible between now and the end of the year, trying to divine just how many of those machines will specifically make their way to Canadian retailers (as opposed to American ones) is a nigh-impossible task without some sort of hint.
Thankfully, Walmart Canada has stepped up and thrown would-be PS5 and Xbox Series hunters a bone in a recent Twitter announcement. While there won’t be any PS5 or Xbox Series units available during this Walmart’s Black Friday sales this week (including Cyber Monday, which the retailer has strived to make crystal clear in its communications with its followers), information regarding the next online restock of both consoles is forthcoming. In fact, it’s coming as soon as the week following, according to the retailer’s official Walmart Canada Gaming account:
Granted, if you are on the hunt for a PS5 or Xbox Series console, this announcement is hardly a guarantee that you’ll be able to secure anything at all, as both scalpers and bots alike will certainly be monitoring anything that Walmart Canada and its social media accounts declare in relation to this news. It could all just end up leading to another crazy few hours of PlayStation and Xbox fans desperately refreshing their online carts and screaming into the abyss in frustration, but given that at least some of those genuine customers stand a chance to secure a next-gen console before the holiday, there’s still a faint glimmer of hope.
In the meantime, as someone who has personally had success securing an Xbox Series X purchase for a family member at one of my local EB Games stores, I strongly suggest calling up your local EB and putting your name on a waiting list as a backup. It costs nothing to do so, and while you’ll have to actually go pick up the unit in store within 24 hours if your reservation is successful, EB Games locations employ appointment pick-up windows to avoid crowding and follow local social distancing guidelines, so if you are already comfortable enough to safely and responsibly venture out to the mall to get your essentials, it might be worth try. Just a tip.