GAME to Clamp Down on PlayStation 5 Scalpers

UK retail giant GAME has promised to clamp down on scalpers for their future PlayStation 5 stock. This comes after the entire allotment sold out to bots within 10 minutes of hitting the market, which has, of course, left millions of disappointed gamers scratching chins.

The PlayStation 5 has become a rarity after only a couple of months on the shelves, and due to the global pandemic, units are being built at a much slower pace — hence the console shortage. And, with scalpers using bots to secure every pre-order available, units are becoming almost impossible to secure. However, GAME has now decided to take things up a notch with future orders.

In a statement sent to VGC, a GAME spokesperson wrote: “PlayStation 5s continue to be in very high demand and that demand far outweighs [the] current supply. We have strong measures in place to help ensure that our ‘1 per customer’ statement is maintained to allow for as many individual customers to successfully purchase as possible.”

UK retail giant GAME aims to halt scalpers from securing pre-orders.

So what measures are being put in place?

“All pre-orders are subject to automatic checks and order updates such as cancellations following these checks take place after a customer will have received a valid order confirmation email. At the present time, these orders are still pre-orders and as such, no payments have yet been taken from customers.  Payments will commence once our order checks have been completed.”

This, in essence, means that GAME will be making further checks on all future pre-orders and sales. In turn, this will hopefully banish scalpers from claiming the entire stock and selling it off for ludicrous profits. But we will have to keep an eye on them just in case they decide to flank another major retailer. Either way, the PlayStation 5 has proved to be a global success. It's just a shame real players are unable to acquire the next-gen kit without having to face extortionate rates.

You can check out other frontline retailers to pre-order the PlayStation 5 now. Just be prepared for a rather long wait. Say, March, perhaps? We're pretty sure that's when Sony plan to serve up another boatload. But don't quote us on that.