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The PS5 Pro might have its pre-orders limited as a countermeasure against scalpers, analysts suggest. As of September 26th, the only place to pre-order the PS5 Pro is direct from the manufacturer itself – unless you live in a region it doesn’t directly deal in, in which case it will be available from select retailers.
This means Amazon and Best Buy will not be stocking the PS5 Pro for pre-orders at launch. In terms of high-street retailers, it’s not yet confirmed which will be stocking it – unlike what we saw with the PS5 Slim which was.
John Welfare, a well-regarded console analyst, has suggested that this is “anti scalping measure or they aren’t expecting a lot of preorders to begin with. Even the old limited Spider-Man 2 bundle had availability at other retailers along with PlayStation Direct from the start.”
The official PlayStation Blog had previously been updated with a warning, which Welfare’s analysis was in response to, that said “on October 10, 2024, pre-orders will be available at all other participating retailers.” The staggered launch means that PlayStation can control scalping until October 10th. After that, it could be a bloodbath.
Other, more typical, hardware launches are often designed to sell through as many retailers as possible, however the unregulated process makes it difficult to protect genuine consumers against scalpers.
PlayStation’s limited pre-order options for the PS5 Pro, whether or not it is intentional, will be protecting its consumers, though there’s little salvation to be found when the price already looks as though it’s been scalped.
In light of recent events (the original PS5’s scarcity) it’s clear that the manufacturer is seeking out an alternative roadmap for this launch. Other analysts have suggested that the lack of exclusives will harm sales, while other sentiments focus on the price. Considering the devastating financial effects of Concord’s launch, it’s no secret that PlayStation are going to want a smooth sailing launch, financially, sure, but PR is likely the main focus.
Unfortunately, the limitation of purchasing the Pro directly from PlayStation has already drawn backlash from a minutiae of potential customers. “Yeah, I’m not putting my credit card info on [PSN[ or [PlayStation Direct]” writes one.
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