Sony apologizes for PlayStation 5 pre-order mess, promises more consoles

By Aaron Mamiit Published April 25, 2023

Sony apologized for the sudden launch of PlayStation 5 pre-orders, which caused many gamers to miss out on securing a console.

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After a livestream revealed that the PlayStation 5 will cost $499, and $399 for the digital edition, Sony said that pre-orders for the console would start the following day. However, chaos ensued when pre-orders opened on Walmart’s website hours later, followed by several other retailers, without warning.

Adding to the confusion was Sony’s own pre-order notification system, which started in August. However, players who signed up did not receive an email until hours after PlayStation 5 listings went up and were sold out.

Sony acknowledged the issues with PlayStation 5 pre-orders and promised to give players more opportunities to secure a console ahead of and after its November 12 release.

Let’s be honest: PS5 preorders could have been a lot smoother. We truly apologize for that.

Over the next few days, we will release more PS5 consoles for preorder – retailers will share more details.

And more PS5s will be available through the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/h1TaGsGBun

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 19, 2020

One of the major criticisms against the PlayStation 5 pre-orders was that during The Game Awards in July, Eric Lempel, Sony’s worldwide head of marketing, said that players will be provided ample notice before pre-orders for the console started. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, causing an uproar among potential PlayStation 5 buyers.

Digital Trends has reached out to Sony for further insight on what went wrong with the PlayStation 5 pre-order process. We will update this article as soon as we hear back.

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The livestream where Sony finally announced the PlayStation 5’s price started with a showcase of games coming to the next-generation console, including the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XVI and God of War: Ragnarok.

The showcase also unveiled the PlayStation Plus Collection, which will give PlayStation Plus subscribers on the PlayStation 5 access to a variety of PlayStation 4 classics for free.

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Update: After our story went live, the team behind Cinder City reached out to clarify that the 64GB RAM recommendation was simply a mistake. The Steam page has since been updated to recommend 32GB of RAM instead. As also shared on Steam, the team noted that the current specs are based on an in-development build, and the final system requirements at launch could end up being lower than what's currently listed. So, no, you probably don't need to start shopping for another 32GB RAM kit just yet. The original story is as follows.

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