Dealers should force pre-orders to buy PS5 Sony games

First dealers are reporting that in the future, pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 will only be possible in conjunction with the purchase of the game for PS5. Editions come directly from Sony and wholesalers who are very selective in pre-selling the console.

The uncontrolled start, poor availability, and cancellations are currently dominating the messages about the pre-order phase of the next-gen console PlayStation 5 and its driverless digital edition. In Germany and Europe, local retailers and online shops are talking about a complete sell-out of all stocks, which in the worst case could continue into the next year 2021. The colleagues from Notebookcheck are said to be in contact with a smaller dealer who is reporting the next bad news from Sony and its wholesalers.

It is currently unclear whether this practice only applies to the wholesaler, who is not known from our source, or whether this requirement is borne by Sony itself. It is also unclear whether other retailers will also pass this requirement on to end customers – it is conceivable that the larger retail chains and mail-order companies, in particular, can better cushion the requirement than smaller retailers and therefore do not have to pass it on. For customers, the situation is at least unsatisfactory if none of the titles to be pre-ordered corresponds to their own preferences and the pre-order of the console is accordingly canceled.

Only a few small traders are likely to impose the constraint on customers

We are talking about special delivery conditions that Sony should give primarily to small customers. They state that one Sony released game must also be accepted for each PS5 console delivered. There should be at least one instance where retailers pass these requirements directly to their customers and only allow pre-orders if they also add the eligible game to their cart. Likewise, buyers were contacted by a dealer who is said to have asked during the PlayStation 5 order to retrospectively purchase one of four Sony games. Otherwise, the pre-order may be canceled.

Larger online retailers like Amazon, Media Markt, or Saturn are unlikely to be bothered by these restrictions as they will likely buy enough games even without a PS5 console. It is unlikely that they will pass on such delivery terms to their customers. However, due to the high demand, interested parties are likely to agree with this and provided that they can be promptly supplied with the PlayStation 5 by smaller retailers. However, the joy of having to buy games should, in principle, come from very few pre-orders. It also remains to be seen how this should work when paired with a PS5 Digital Edition without a drive.

If you are looking to pre-order or even buy a PlayStation 5 this year, you must be very lucky. There is currently the talk of the third wave of pre-orders starting October 5. But this has yet to be confirmed by Sony or the retailer. In addition, there are rumors that the Japanese manufacturer wants to end open sales in local stores. Mainly because of the known massive storms that can disrupt important hygiene measures during the coronavirus.