After months of speculation, you may finally order the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Or, if you can make the head or tails of the pre-order process, at least, you can.
For those who did not follow through in complete despair, the PS5 pre-order process was so weak that Sony had to publicly apologize. Microsoft promised that similar difficulties would not surround the Xbox Series X – but then, of course, he did.
Essentially, if you’ve tried pre-ordering the next-gen console, there’s a good chance you didn’t get it. And even if you did, you can still find yourself with the order that is the most delayed, excellent, or canceled. If you want a PS5 or Xbox Series X, it seems more and more that you have a better experience of going to a store in mid-November and trying your luck.
Let’s break down anything that went wrong with pre-order processes – and share some advice for those who didn’t manage to create a new system. While we can’t guarantee anything, there’s still plenty of time between now and November to turn your fortunes around.
PS5 pre-order
When Sony chose not to share any information about the PS5 during the September show, the PS5 pre-processor process began to stall. After we got the price and release date for the PS5, the livestream ended, and fans assumed that – until Sony hopped on Twitter and mentioned that pre-orders would start the next day at “select retailers”.
“The next day” meant “a few hours later,” as some retailers immediately began selling the devices. Some retailers sold out pre-orders before Sept. 16; Some waited until midnight on September 17; Some did not start after that morning or afternoon. The consoles went in and out of stock for hours on end. Some websites will not load; Others crashed when people tried to investigate.
In short: it was a mess, and there wasn’t much buyers could do except click and pray.
Our test head, Matthew Murray, was one of the unhappy customers. While Tom’s Guide usually receives review consoles from Micro .ft and Sony, we also purchase our own units as we need consoles for our fee use, as well as for home testing. He can comfort you by knowing that our destiny is not better than yours.
“Let’s just say it’s chaotic,” Murray told me through Slack. “It was like everything sold out right away, like websites wouldn’t even work.”
Even if you manage to buy a PS5, your troubles will not end. Even after going through the checkout process, many customers find that their orders have not been processed properly, and they do not receive PS5s at all. Others received e-mails that their orders had passed, but there is no guarantee of a November 12 shipping date. There was no confirmed date, in fact – it is quite possible that these customers will wait until January.
Sony posted a tweet on September 19 apologizing frankly, promising that more PS5 stock would be available between now and the end of the year. While that is probably true, it gives us no indication of how the PS5 pre-order will proceed from here.
After a frustrating day with steamed pre-orders, Murray – like many other customers – threw up his hands and reassured himself that Xbox pre-orders would be an easy process.
Xbox Series X Pre-Order
On the surface, it looks like Micro .ft plans to pre-order the Xbox Series X. After the company announces the price and release date of the Xbox Series X, let buyers know that pre-orders will start from September 22nd. After that, the participating retailers filled in the blanks about the time of day and beyond. While there will still be a rush, at least both users and websites knew what to expect, and when.
However, many – if not most – potential pre-order customers were left empty-handed.
“All the websites were overloaded in one way or another, and all gave us weird error messages and problems,” Murray said. “On target, the ‘pre-order’ button does not work. Best Buy will claim that the item is available, but will not add it to your cart. It took ages for me to add a micro .ft store [the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S] On my cart, and when it finally happened, it would not accept my payment information. “
Both the Walmart and Sam clubs (which are owned by the same company) let Murray add systems to his cart, then immediately deleted him. Game Stop crashed. Amazon gave it a litany on the error screen for the Xbox Series X; It doesn’t look like the Xbox Series S is available at all.
Between crashed websites, empty shopping carts and missing products, there were plenty of problems for Xbox customers to worry about. But, like the PS5 pre-order, the issues didn’t stop there. Many customers place orders, but confirmation e-mails have not yet been received. By this time tomorrow, we expect e-mails to be canceled, as well as “We cannot guarantee delivery on November 10” e-mails.
The situation was not better in person, where some gamestops could confirm Pre-order less than 10.
In short, the Xbox Series X pre-order process had a streamlined plan, and chaotic execution. Whether this is better or worse than Sony’s “chaotic plan, chaotic execution” depends entirely on your perspective – and whether you want the PS5 or the Xbox Series X.
Now how to get PS5 or Xbox Series X.
While there are some catheters in the intrusion on a broken pre-order system, it is not a very practical activity. Instead, let’s take a moment to figure out the next steps for those of you who weren’t lucky enough to console during the first round of pre-order.
Murray gave me this advice:
“I’m trying to get the systems I’m looking for,” he said. “Be patient, try and follow when prejudices are likely to resume. I think that will eventually be enough to get around there, but I don’t know if everyone will receive it by launching day. “
“Be patient and keep trying” may sound like a clich,, but it’s a clich કારણ because it often works. Both Sony and Micro .ft plan to release additional stock now and in mid-November, and retail websites will work smoothly when not criticized with the pre-order rush. I’ve personally found that mid-morning and mid-afternoon are good times to check the stock: 10 AM and 2 PM ET, respectively, but that’s no secret. Retailers rearrange whenever they can and sometimes it’s a matter of clicking on the right website at the right time.
Failing that, console manufacturers usually do not sell their pre-orders during stocks, as they also need to place products on store shelves. While you can trade one kind of chaos for another, you can always try your luck at retail stores – but I won’t do that on November 10 or 12, wait a week or so and wait until the second wave The console starts to get in trouble. By that time, the initial rush is dead, and you’ll often find a console hidden on a store shelf in some small store.
I would not recommend turning to eBay. For one thing, you’ll pay at least twice the cost of the system; For another, you will find beneficial scalpers, which make the shopping experience worse for everyone. Moreover, there is no guarantee that you will not find a brand new, functional console, instead of an old car battery or anything.
My final recommendation is a bit different: do not pre-order the console, or wait to get one on launch day. This may seem a bit contradictory, but it’s been my personal practice since the last three console payouts, and it hasn’t gotten me wrong yet. Most of the PS5 and Xbox Series X launching games will be available on the PS4 or Xbox One. That means you will have plenty to play between now and January. And coming to the end of January (maybe even earlier), the console will be in the dozens and whatever retailer you will be free from frequent, cumbersome, expensive bundles or website missteps.
Patience is your best strategy, especially since many of the current-gen games you buy this year will get free next-gen upgrades whenever you get a new console. Your friends may have a shiny new console before you, but you will have your sanity intact, which is worth a lot more than an argument.
