Panic sells over 20,000 Playdate handhelds in under 20 minutes – TechCrunch

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As we’ve known for about a week, today was the day that the charming / wacky / curious / all of the above (and its crank!) Playdate gaming device De Panic went on pre-order. The buzz around the retro-inspired little handheld seemed strong – but would that translate into actual sales?

The answer, it seems, is a firm yes. Panic has pledged to manufacture 20,000 units by 2021, selling them on a first come, first served basis. All subsequent orders would still be accepted, but those orders would not ship until 2022 at the earliest.

According to Panic’s shipping estimator, those first 20,000 units were gone in less than 20 minutes. This first batch of 2021 went very quickly. (We confirmed to a representative of Panic that the shipping estimator is correct and that those first 20,000 units are taken into account.)

Image credits: Panic

Like just about any highly anticipated launch, the process has not been without technical challenges. After a brief blink of server instability and 502 errors, Panic’s payment system went online… This excluded some international users from the payment flow and, unfortunately, from their place in the payment queue. waiting and in lot 2022.

⚠️ Our sincere apologies to all the international customers who had difficulty paying this morning. The plug-in from our international shipping provider fell under a heavy load (despite our numerous warnings). Many orders have been placed, but many not. We are looking at the options.

– Date read (@date read) July 29, 2021

There is already talk, meanwhile, of a “2023 bucket” for orders, although the company notes that “it will take some time” before they get there.

For those who missed the story so far: The Playdate is a somewhat experimental gaming device built by Panic (the team behind Mac apps like Transmit and Prompt, and who have helped deliver games like Firewatch. and Untitled Goose Game) in collaboration with Teenage Engineering. The games are marketed on the device at $ 179 per “seasons”, with two games (of varying length / complexity / etc.) Scheduled to ship each week of its first three months. With a black and white screen, minimal buttons and, yes, a crank (to control games, not to charge the device), this one is less “WILL IT RUN CRYSIS ?!” and more… blank canvas.

While we’re not talking about next-gen console-level sales here, selling tens of thousands of units in no time is a big deal. resounding achievement for the first dive of a software team into the game hardware. Now they just have to bring them out.

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