Sony’s PlayStation Direct site is still periodically offering buyers a shot at a PlayStation 5 through queues and quick purchases, but today’s PlayStation Direct queue looked a bit different from the others. Instead of starting the queue and letting people into the site once those waiting had moved up in line enough to get in, there was essentially a queue before the queue this time that ticked down to the exact second the main queue would open. Some more info provided in that first waiting room shed some light on how the main queue for the PlayStation 5 would work.
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As people like Wario64 who’ve long been keeping an eye on these PlayStation Direct queues noted when Wednesday’s queue went live, there was a pre-queue notice this time that explained more about the process. It gave a specific timer for when the queue would open, not just a bar like the one you see when you’re waiting in the main line, and it said that when that timer reached its end, you’d be dropped into the queue for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition consoles.
Today’s queue is different now that Sony is making your queue placement random, as long as you load the page before 1 PM PT.
“When PS5 console inventory becomes available, you will be assigned a random place in queue.” https://t.co/NRJRUWW3Hp
— Wario64 (@Wario64) December 16, 2020
Consoles were of course limited and you could only purchase one per person, both of which are standard parts of the queue process by now along with some of the other information listed above. The new part to take note of was listed under the “Be Prepared” section.
“When PS5 console inventory becomes available, you will be assigned a random place in queue,” the new note said on the queue for the queue.
So under this new system, it doesn’t matter how far in advance you’re waiting for the main queue to open. If you’re in line before everything is underway, you’ll be assigned a random spot in the main line, so you could get lucky and get put at the front or you could be unlucky and get dropped in at the end. Those hopping into the main queue after this stage in the process will presumably be placed towards the end of the line like normal, but if you’re getting in late, there’s a good chance the consoles will be sold out by the time you make it through to PlayStation Direct anyway.
Perhaps this new system is part of Sony’s efforts to combat scalpers similar to steps we’ve seen other retailers take. Buyers have always had to have a PlayStation account to purchase consoles through the PlayStation Direct, but the new system should make it so that bots and scalpers aren’t constantly able to sit on the PlayStation Direct site and be first in line when queues open.
