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Gaming fans queue up for the PlayStation 5 in Japan
Photo: Kin Cheung / AP
Until the very end, Sony had managed to keep the crucial information secret.
It was only on Wednesday that the group revealed to the excited fans when the Playstation 5 should be released and how much the next generation console will cost.
But one crucial note was missing from the online presentation: the time of the start of advance sales.
That led to chaos.
Online retailers sold the device according to their own rules and left the fans confused who had hoped for a fixed time in order to press the order button at the same time as other fans.
There was no equality of opportunity: even those who noticed that a retailer had added the Playstation 5 to their online range were usually too late again.
The consoles were sold out within a few minutes.
Sony's attempt to quickly start sales on Thursday morning shortly after the product was presented failed.
Sony announced hastily via tweet: "The pre-orders of the PS5 will be possible tomorrow morning at selected dealers."
But that evening, shortly after the presentation, the US department store chain Walmart announced on Twitter: "Keep you waiting for the new Playstation 5? No, we are not like that. Let's go, order it now!"
A little later, dealers like the chain Gamestop followed, who announced the presale by press release, but had not even set up a proper online product page for the console, as the tech magazine "The Verge" reports.
At the official launch all devices are gone
Almost all dealers followed suit and announced in the evening and at night that the Playstation 5 was on sale immediately and could be ordered.
In Germany, too, Media Markt and Saturn took their first orders shortly after the presentation at 11 p.m. German time.
At midnight, Amazon followed suit.
A little later the device was sold out everywhere.
Anyone who hoped to get hold of a console on Thursday morning was disappointed.
A Twitter user writes: "It is very rude to say that pre-orders start tomorrow and then they all start the night before, so everything is sold out before morning even starts."
Another tweeted: "Should give people who, due to work, cannot hammer on F5 at midnight."
Microsoft tweeted a swipe at Sony
On online platforms such as Ebay, the pre-ordered consoles are sometimes offered at twice the price.
On Friday, Sony did not respond to a SPIEGEL inquiry as to whether there would be further deliveries in the coming weeks.
The group also did not comment on how the uncoordinated sales start could come about.
A spokeswoman for the MediaMarktSaturn Group confirmed to SPIEGEL that the entire contingent of PS5 consoles has been sold and said: "We are in close contact with Sony with regard to further deliveries of PS5 consoles."
Microsoft wants to do better with the presale of the new Xbox.
With a swipe at Sony, the group announced on Twitter: "Don't worry, we will soon give you the exact times for the start of pre-orders."
This list now exists.
The console manufacturer specifies when sales start in the individual time zones and where the devices can be ordered.
In Germany, sales are scheduled for next Tuesday at 9 a.m.
In addition to the Microsoft Store, Amazon, GameStop, Media Markt and Saturn, among others, are named as official presale dealers.
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