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Two of the most coveted gifts of the holiday season went on sale in November, as Microsoft rolled out its Xbox Series X video game consoles | S and Sony launched its rival PlayStation 5. The only problem: finding one of the $ 499 devices in stock.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday came and went with some restocking, but consoles remain hard to find. There might be some hope for holiday shoppers, however: Sony promised in a tweet that more inventory will arrive at retailers before the end of the year.
Still, expect consoles to remain a hot item and hard to find. Demand was so high for the PlayStation 5, which went on sale on November 12, that it slowed down Walmart’s website and displayed error messages to some buyers. When Walmart restocked the devices on November 25, the PlayStation 5 sold out within minutes.
Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X | S, which was released on November 20, was heralded by Microsoft as “the biggest launch in Xbox history.”
While some consumers were furious at their inability to purchase the consoles, resellers were busy listing new games on eBay, where resale prices soared to $ 32,000 for a new PlayStation 5 and $ 8,000 for a new one. Xbox Series X. To be sure, most consoles offered for resale are between $ 1,000 and $ 1,500, which still isn’t a bad profit for people who were quick enough to grab one.
Aimee Picchi
It remains to be seen whether consumers would pay more than 60 times the retail price of a PlayStation 5, but sky-high resale prices signal the intersection of a few pandemic-era trends: the game’s rise in popularity as well as the shift to online retailing during the crisis.
“A new console release is always exciting – it only happens every five to seven years,” noted Jordan Minor, software and games analyst at PCMag. But, he added, “Their rollout was a bit messed up, although every time a new console is launched it’s a mess.”
PlayStation problems?
Some consumers who have been fortunate enough to secure a console have reported issues with the devices, which is not unusual when a new product is rolled out, according to technology experts.
The PlayStation issues included controllers that weren’t loading properly, games that were uninstalled without notice, and console crashes, according to ScreenRant.
The combination of expensive devices and limited availability is proving frustrating for consumers, who have taken to social media to voice their frustrations. On top of that, there were few Black Friday deals on video game consoles, noted Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter in a research note, who called the available deals “underwhelming.”
Xbox fans may have to wait longer to get their hands on a new console than PlayStation enthusiasts, Pachter noting that Microsoft does not expect to catch up with demand until the second quarter of 2021.
Fight bots
One of the issues consumers face is 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 for diving and make purchases milliseconds before actual human consumers, Jason Kent, Cequence Security “hacker in residence”, told CBS MoneyWatch.
“What they do is basically look at any high demand item, and they look at how you buy them and then develop a robot to do it,” Kent said. “Then they go to their ‘market’ and say, ‘I have a robot that’s going to buy PS5s – it’s $ 300 if you want to buy [the bot]. ‘”
There are even bots designed to give consumers an edge over inventory-hogging bots, with restock tracking for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles. The live stream from his Twitch channel shows ping results from retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. On Tuesday, however, the bot showed a constant stream of red “OUT OF STOCK” messages.
Disappointed gamers blamed retailers and manufacturers for the shortage of new consoles.
“It’s 2020 @Walmart, you should have had 1 per household for the Xbox release, “one consumer said on Twitter.” Noooo buy how much you want. What joke. 2020 and you retailers still don’t know how to stop bots and scammers. “
Walmart said it is 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 are working hard to prevent this and make sure our customers have access to these items,” a door said. speech in an email.
In a statement, Liz Hamren, head of Microsoft games, admitted that some consumers were disappointed.
“We know not everyone was able to get an Xbox Series X right away | S and we are working tirelessly with our partners around the world to bring to as many consoles as possible over time and encourage you to register with your local retailers directly for further details on availability in your market, ”said Hamren.
Pandemic game
The game has only grown in popularity since the coronavirus pandemic crippled the economy in March. With consumers stuck at home, many have turned to games to spend hours.
Consumers spent $ 11.2 billion on video games between July and September, a jump of 24% from the same period last year, according to NPD Group.
PCMag’s Minor offers some consolation for empty-handed buyers: Don’t worry about missing the same-day release. First, the new consoles don’t have a lot of games available at launch, and they might also have issues that will eventually be addressed by their manufacturers.
“Wait a year and it will be worth a year of games on it,” he said. “You might need your money for better things right now.”
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