Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
PlayStation 5’s rocky pre-order launch felt like a 101 in how not to handle a console pre-order. Following last week’s fiasco, Microsoft came out and stated that they would be sure to let fans know specifically when pre-orders for the next-gen consoles will go live. This held true, as Microsoft shared that players could start pre-ordering 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET on September 22. However, things quickly went south as websites began to crash and fans weren't able to lockdown their Series X/Series S pre-order.
Once pre-orders were live, it quickly became retread of the PS5 pre-order fiasco. Both Target and Walmart were out of stock within minutes of going up. The Microsoft store was a bit trickier, as several users reported outages when trying to access the website, while others were able to get in and secure an Xbox Series X/Series S console well after they became available. Major retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and GameStop followed shortly thereafter, also experiencing outages for some, and selling out quickly.
For those that had gotten burned on the PlayStation 5 pre-order, the Series X/Series S seemed like an opportunity to pre-order a next-gen console with significantly less stress and frustration. Unfortunately, many still walked away empty-handed, despite being more than prepared to plunk down the cash for those sweet, sweet teraflops. Microsoft has yet to publicly comment on the ordeal with Xbox pre-orders, but we could hear something soon.
The pre-orders went live just a day after Microsoft announced its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda. You have to wonder if the prospect of some major franchises going exclusive amped up the demand for the Xbox Series X and Series S at the last minute. As the situation continues to unfold, we’ll be covering it right here on Shacknews.