Ps5 Won T Be Available To Purchase In Store At Launch You Ll Have To Go Online

On the official PlayStation blog, Sid Shuman Senior Director, SIE Content Communications, published a brief post on Thursday explaining the company’s reasons for not having consoles available—and, no surprise, it has to do with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“No units will be available in-store for purchase on launch day (November 12 or November 19, depending on your region) – please don’t plan on camping out or lining up at your local retailer on launch day in hopes of finding a PS5 console for purchase. Be safe, stay home, and place your order online,” Shuman wrote.

This declaration doesn’t mean there won’t be physical consoles at Best Buy, GameStop, Target and other retailers, it just means that those who were lucky enough to place their pre-order can pick them up on November 12 (or 19 in other regions). Gamers will need to confirm their pick-up times with their local retailer and follow their safety protocols.

Sony’s news comes a day after the United States posted its highest number of new positive COVID-19 tests in the country.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the United States saw a record 102,831 new positive tests on Wednesday—the highest single-day rise in infections since the outbreak began.

While gamers who were planning on lining up at their local retailers will now have to change their strategy, just being able to pre-order a PS5 or the PS5 Digital has been no small task since they went live in mid-September.

Unlike Microsoft, which let buyers know when and where they could purchase the Xbox Series X ahead of time, retailers took it upon themselves to let gamers know when they had PS5 stock to buy online.

Sony CEO Jim Ryan told Reuters in October that the company has pre-sold as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours in the United States as the PS4 did in its first 12 weeks.

The PS5 will be released on November 12 in the following countries: United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The rest of the world gets it on November 19.

Do you have your pre-order ready? What are your thoughts on Sony’s declaration of not selling the PS5 in-store on launch day? Let us know in the comments section.