Two of the holiday season's most anticipated gifts went on sale earlier this month, with Microsoft rolling out its Xbox Series X|S and Sony debuting the PlayStation 5. The only problem: actually finding one of the $499 consoles in stock.
As Black Friday beckons, the devices remain hard to find. But there could be some hope for holiday shoppers: Walmart said it will restock its supply of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox at 9 p.m. Eastern time on November 25, while Sony vowed in a tweet that more inventory would arrive at retailers before year-end.
Still, expect the consoles to remain a hot item. Demand was so high for the PlayStation 5, which went on sale on November 12, that it caused Walmart's website to slow and show error messages to some shoppers. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X|S , which was released on November 20, was heralded by Microsoft as its "biggest launch in Xbox history."
While some consumers fumed over their inability to buy the consoles, resellers were busy listing the new games on eBay, where resale prices climbed to as much as $32,000 for a new PlayStation 5 and $8,000 for a new Xbox Series X. To be sure, most of the consoles offered for resale are in the $1,000 to $1,500 range — still not a bad profit for people who were quick enough to snap one up.
Whether consumers would pay more than 60 times the retail price for a PlayStation 5 remains to be seen, but the exorbitant resale prices signal the intersection of a few pandemic-era trends: the rise of popularity in gaming as well as a shift to online retail during the crisis.
"A new console release is always exciting — it only happens every five to seven years," noted Jordan Minor, a software and gaming analyst at PCMag. But, he added, "Their rollout was kind of messed up, although whenever a new console launches it's a mess."
One issue was the reliance on online sales for both products. The PlayStation 5 debuted exclusively through online retail sites such as Walmart.com and BestBuy.com, allowing bots to swoop in and make purchases in milliseconds ahead of actual human consumers, Cequence Security "hacker-in-residence" Jason Kent told tech website ThreatPost.
"Since most retailers have built their environments for high-speed and high-volume transactions, the bots are being supported by the environment that is trying to keep them out," Kent told the publication. "The effort to build a retail store that delights customers and enables transactions plays right into the bot creators' hands."
Disappointed gamers blamed both the retailers and the manufacturers for the new console shortage.
"It's 2020 @Walmart, you should've had 1 per household for Xbox release," one consumer vented on Twitter. "Noooo buy how many you want. What a joke. 2020 and you retailers still can't figure how to stop bots and scammers."
Walmart said it's restocking and will release more inventory throughout the holidays. "It's not unusual to see bot activity, especially on hot items like the PS5. Our teams work hard to prevent this and ensure our customers have access to these items," a spokeswoman said in an email.
In a statement, Microsoft game executive Liz Hamren acknowledged that some consumers were disappointed.
"We know that not everyone was able to get an Xbox Series X|S immediately and are working tirelessly with our partners around the world to bring as many new consoles to as many of you as possible over time and encourage you to check in with your local retailers directly for more details on availability in your market," Hamren said.
Pandemic gaming
Gaming has only grown in popularity since the coronavirus pandemic crippled the economy in March. With consumers stuck at home, many have turned to gaming to while away the hours.
Consumers spent $11.2 billion on video gaming in the third quarter, which runs from July through September, a jump of 24% compared to the same period last year, according to NPD Group.
PCMag's Minor offers some consolation for empty-handed shoppers: Don't fret about missing out on the same-day release. First, the new consoles don't have many games available at launch, and they could also have glitches that will eventually be ironed out by their manufacturers.
"Wait a year and it'll be a year's worth of games on it," he said. "You might need your money for better things right now."
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