Going into 2020 there was a ton of excitement for the video game industry. We all knew that this would be the year that the next-generation Xbox and PlayStation consoles would get unveiled along with their eventual release during the holiday season. While none of us could have expected the coronavirus health pandemic outbreak that occurred this year, it wasn’t going to be enough to sway the companies from unveiling their consoles, marketing them, and releasing them into the markets around the world. However, there have still been some obstacles in the way that fans and manufacturers are trying to overcome.
For starters, when it comes to Sony, their next-generation PlayStation 5 video game console is relying more on immersion. This is done through a few different means such as 3D audio and haptic feedback measures placed on the DualSense controller. It’s something that Sony was banking on players trying at different events leading up to the console launch. However, because of quarantines and social distancing measures that are still playing a massive role today, Sony couldn’t ship their PlayStation 5 around to different areas for players to try out for themselves.
Still, Sony has been showcasing the PlayStation 5 in different online streams and marketing commercials. However, when it came time for preorders, several retailers started offering the PlayStation 5 early. This caused the stock to quickly get claimed up leaving those wanting to ensure they have a console on the way to be out of the luck. Sony eventually took to their official PlayStation Twitter account in order to offer their apologies and claim that more units will be available with retailers set to share more details when the time comes.
We’re not sure if there will be a shortage of units available because of the coronavirus causing delays in production, but it looks like even those that managed to preorder a unit may find themselves without the console at launch. Consumers are starting to alert followers on Twitter that Amazon has sent emails stating that their PlayStation 5 may not arrive at release because of the high volume of requests. This is likely something we will see quite a bit during the holiday season as more consumers may take to internet shopping to avoid entering busy retailer locations in-person which should have restrictions on how many shoppers can enter the building at a time due to the virus.