PlayStation 5 restocks have come and gone. India pre-orders for the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition went live at 12pm (noon) on Monday, May 17, and disappeared within minutes, predictably. By 12:05 pm, all of Amazon, Flipkart, Games The Shop, Prepaid Gamer Card, Reliance Digital, Sony Center, and Vijay Sales — they had simultaneously opened online PS5 restock pre-orders — were either displaying “sold out”/ “currently unavailable”, struggled to load and/or had crashed, or had never been able to manage the traffic in the first place. Once again, Sony has severely underestimated the PS5 demand in India, though reports had already cautioned that PlayStation 5 restocks would be severely limited.
To make matters worse, there’s no word on when the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition will be back in stores in India. This was only the first restock for the PS5 since the next-gen console’s early February launch in India, and the first opportunity for those in South Asia to officially get their hands on its digital-only counterpart. Those interested in the PS5 Digital Edition have had to wait over six months since its global launch to get the first shot, while those unable to successfully pre-order during the first pre-order phase — back in January — have had to endure a four-month wait. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging through India, it’s impossible to say when the chance might come again.
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Of course, things will (most likely) get even worse. Not just with COVID-19, but even for those who did manage to snag a PS5 pre-order. As has been the case with all pre-order rounds for next-gen consoles, including the PS5 and Xbox Series X, certain retailers are bound to cancel a bunch of orders because they will have overbooked due to technological limitations on their end. Reliance Digital is the obvious candidate in this department, though in the past, Flipkart and even Amazon India have tried bullying or delaying tactics to get customers to cancel their PS5 pre-orders. If that doesn’t happen to you, PS5 restock orders will be fulfilled starting Monday, May 24, Sony Center says.
All the new PS5 stock seems to be gone for now, but you can keep an eye on the seven aforementioned websites and register for notifications, if you please. You might have better luck checking with a game store near you though. Sony India has also set up a helpline at 1800-103-7799 to help PlayStation fans find local retailers across India. Naturally, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, most game stores will likely be closed depending on restrictions imposed where you live.
PS5 vs Xbox Series X: Which is the best “next-gen” console in India? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.