Walmart PS5 stock update after bots blocked trying to ‘steal’ consoles

Walmart has shut down millions of “grumpy bots “to buy PlayStation 5 consoles while the stock went live last month, an executive said.

Jerry Geisler, chief information security officer for Walmart Global Tech, said the retail giant had used detection tools to block a swarm of automated attempts to purchase the next-gen gaming machine before the legitimate customers.

“A preventative bot action that we implemented just hours before the PlayStation 5 event on November 25th blocked over 20 million bot attempts in the first 30 minutes (which is a fraction of what our systems do continuously) ”, Geisler said in a blog.

Unlike previous generations, the rush to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox The S / X series has been held largely online for security reasons surrounding the COVID pandemic, because stores did not want consumers to flock to their branches en masse.

But that left the process wide open to “scalpers,” the resellers who take advantage of automated “bot” scripts that scour the internet for inventory, placing many orders before an actual human has a chance to click. on the item image.

With high demand and limited supply, dealers have listed PS5s and Xbox consoles on websites like eBay for massively inflated prices.

Mixed with low stock availability, sporadic postings by retailers and website crashes due to flooding internet traffic, many consumers were unable to get a console until Christmas and experts predict the situation could turn around. continue until 2021.

According to Geisler, the increase in online shopping and the demand for consoles have created “patterns of traffic to our site and our applications that we have never seen before.” He coined the expression “grumpy bots ”to describe those who attempt to hijack commands.

“Additional traffic is coming from ‘grumpy bots’, who love the original Grinch, try to steal these alleged gifts. This is traffic that we just don’t want, ”he said, adding that Walmart’s bot detection tools seemed to work as expected.

“Once a site becomes aware of a bot’s presence, it can use a number of strategies to try to block the bot. Bot scripts are constantly evolving and being rewritten. So we have built, deployed and continuously updated our own. bot detection tools that allow us to successfully block the vast majority of the bots we see, ”he said.

While most customers will be grateful for the efforts, console scalpers have apparently made their fortune amassing great qualities of wanted stock.

Data Engineer Michael Driscoll said in a Analysis report published Dec. 2 that dealers made millions of dollars on eBay alone. He said the results were based on a script he did that eliminated eBay’s sold ads for PS5 and Xbox.

The report says scalpers have so far made more than $ 9 million in profit from Xbox consoles, some sell for more than 50 percent above the normal retail price. The PS5, available digitally or on disc, has been inflated even more as demand has increased.

“The disk version goes for 300% MSRP [manufacturer’s suggested retail price] and digital at 200% MSRP! ” Driscoll writes in his analysis this month. “Over 32,000 PS5s have been sold on eBay, allowing scalpers to make $ 19 million in profit.”

Geisler said Walmart is also taking steps to verify orders so it can reverse any confirmations confirmed by robots. And there was more good news for those still on the hunt for either console, with more expected to hit shelves online.

“We soon have more next-gen consoles online, and we continue to work hard to get them into the hands of as many customers as possible.” Geisler said. There does not appear to be any at the time of writing, and it is listed as out of stock.

Unfortunately at this time the website doesn’t say when the consoles will be restocked, but some PlayStation 5s appear to have fell sporadically Wednesday. It’s best to continue to check Walmart’s website for updates during the holiday season.