Playdate sold 20,000 units in 20 minutes

Playdate, Panic Inc.’s hand-cranked 1-bit handheld, sold the 20,000 units pledged for the 2021 release – and it only took 20 minutes.

As reported by TechCrunch, Panic said his shipping estimator accurately confirmed that 20,000 units of the handheld sold in just under 20 minutes when they were pre-ordered on July 29. Orders after this point are still accepted, but are unlikely to reach customers until 2022.

The launch of Playdate’s pre-order sales was not without some technical issues. Panic admitted on Twitter that his online store was experiencing some difficulties at the time, especially with international orders. Some international users have encountered issues while trying to select their country for delivery, while other issues with inventory tracking caused the handheld to run out for a short time.

Following his technical issues, Panic said he was trying to “work out the best plan for international orders delayed due to failures,” but the company was “astonished at the response” from fans to this first wave. of Playdate commands. Panic also said in another tweet that there is a possibility that a “2023 bucket” of orders will reach customers in the future, believing the company has reassured fans that it should take some time to get there. to arrive.

⚠️ There was a slight issue with our inventory tracking and Playdate may temporarily show as “Sold Out” – we’ve fixed this now! Anyone should be able to place an order, but you may need to put Playdate back in your cart.

I’m sweating here

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

For those of you who have not yet followed the full story of Playdate, the nifty little device uses a rotating crank that can be used to control different elements of its preset games. IGN introduced the Mini Handheld in June before delving into a more hands-on experience earlier this month. To learn more about Panic, check out our Firewatch review where we rated the game developed by Santo Campo “as one of the best” walking simulators “thanks to stellar writing, art direction and voice acting.”

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow it on Twitter.