At long last, the PlayStation 5 is upon us -- but in all honesty, you'd be hard-pressed to tell. For many, procuring one of Sony's anticipated consoles was a Herculean task, with countless horror stories of millisecond-sell-outs, crashed "check-out" screens, and the paralyzing terror of a harsh reality settling in. It didn't take long for the new sales landscape to reveal itself, one that has left many empty-handed gamers in a perpetual state of seething rage.
Though retailers were entirely stripped of all inventory, scalpers had managed to secure a seemingly endless cache of PlayStation 5's reselling them on sites like Amazon and eBay, driving up the price to a ridiculous degree. And while some have proven willing to part with their hard-earned ducats and bite the bullet, fueling the scalper economy in order to keep the kids happy on Christmas morning, many have opted to stand pat with arms crossed and a defiant grimace. Sadly, however, no amount of principles can change one disturbing revelation, as recently pointed out by popular gaming channel Gameranx.
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In an extensive video titled How Scalpers Are RUINING The Series X/PS5 Launch, host Falcon goes in-depth explaining that scalpers have actually banded together to amass a hoard of consoles, actively seeking to disrupt the market and create a new price point. And sadly, their attempts have been largely successful. According to the video's breakdown, scalpers in the UK have managed to collect more consoles than retailers at the moment, forcing those interested in copping a PS5 to look to them -- paying uproarious prices in the process.
The clip explains that they've managed to pull the operation off by banding together and organizing their efforts in a pay-to-access Discord server, and from the sound of it, they've been largely successful in their efforts. While that's not to say retailers have been entirely exhausted of stock, there does remain a sense of uncertainty as to when exactly a consumer will be able to purchase a console without being gouged by an opportunistic middleman.
While Sony did come forward to reassure that more PS5s were coming, it's likely that the issue will simply repeat itself, as nobody appears willing to take preventative measures -- after all, Sony's consoles are selling regardless. For a more extensive breakdown on the topic, be sure to check out Gameranx's video below. Have you managed to get your hand on a PS5?