The wait for consoles has many gamers frustrated, as they wait for news from Sony about restocks for the PlayStation 5. With the holiday season creeping up, many are eager to get their hands on the system either as a holiday gift or a personal present. However, with consoles in short supply and little information circulating about restock dates, those who were unable to purchase a system on release day are wondering if there will be any consoles available to snag on Black Friday.
Most sales for PlayStation 5 consoles are happening online. Because of this, those who would have preferred to purchase a system in person are left battling online shoppers. This leaves Sony fans at the mercy of scalpers who snatch up restocked PS5 consoles for inflated resale, and crashing websites as servers are bombarded with people attempting to beat out other shoppers. Scalpers and bots have made purchasing a console even more difficult for those who are actually trying to purchase a PS5 for themselves, and with no ability to back-order, gamers have been left to rely on hounding websites and retailers for when the next restock date and time may be, and hoping they might snag one before they are all sold out again.
Currently, if gamers want to score a Black Friday purchase on a PS5 console, there are a few stores with confirmed and rumored potential restock. Currently, Walmart has released news about Black Friday restocks in an ad for gaming deals. This restock is set for the 25th of November at 7 PM and will be online only. GameStop has also confirmed that it will have consoles on November 27th at 7AM, for in store purchase only, stepping away from the turbulence of online buying. BestBuy may have consoles on November 22nd, though they have not released a time and purchasing method at this time.
PlayStation 5 Consoles Availability On Black Friday
It also appears that there will be a restock for Amazon UK that corresponds with their launch date for PS5 consoles. These will be online only starting at noon on November 19th. This does not seem to by the case for Amazon in the US, as there currently haven't been any updates for when the US restocks might be available for purchase. It is also unclear how many PS5 consoles will be available for any of the above stores restocking for the holiday rush. This means that the frantic surge to buy consoles, especially online, will likely continue and leave many to continue waiting for restocks potentially into January.
It's also very likely that Sony will have more PlayStation 5 consoles for sale in their own online storefront, available here. Right now, the list of confirmed retailers who will have some sort of PS5 Black Friday deal looks like:
- Amazon UK - November 19th, Online Only
- Best Buy - November 22nd, Unspecified
- Walmart - November 25th, Online Only
- GameStop - November 27th, In Store Only
Waiting for restocks for a PS5 appear to be an ongoing battle. While there will hopefully be plenty of consoles to go around as Black Friday shoppers go out in search of the new console, the waiting game could continue for those who might not be able to beat the online sales rush. With the known issue of bot buying and scalpers, the competition to get a PlayStation 5 won't be ea any time soon. To have the best chance at getting a PS5 console before January, gamers will want to keep a close eye on what stores are able to restock their digital shelves. With luck, there will be even more consoles before Christmas, so that Sony fans can all enjoy the new gaming system together.
