Walmart U.S. has decided to offer preorders for the PlayStation 5 on its website only, reversing a previous decision to allow customers who visit the store in person to place an order.
As reported by GameSpot, the company originally planned to open in-store preorders on September 22nd. The website has now been updated to say that the PS5 is “coming soon.” Unless stock is available online, there’s no other way to grab a console from Walmart. You’ll have to wait until launch to get one if/when stock is available.
Going by the statement that Walmart provided GameSpot, the company anticipated a mass influx of customers in its stores, making it difficult to adhere to CDC’s social distancing guidelines.
“Walmart has decided not to proceed with the planned store preorder to control store traffic and keep our customers safe and socially distanced,” reads the statement. “Customers can still get the console on November 12 when it’s released. Apologies for any confusion.”
Although preorders for the Xbox Series X/S aren’t live yet, we’re assuming that this policy change will apply to Microsoft’s consoles as well, considering initial demand for both next-gen machines.
Yesterday, Sony apologized for the PS5 preorder situation and promised that it will increase retailer allotments to allow more people to secure a console. Retailers will reveal more details in the coming days so we’ll keep our readers posted as and when there are further developments. For now, rest assured that there will be more consoles available in the months leading up to launch, and thereafter.
[Source: GameSpot]
