PS5 and Xbox Series X scalpers have drawn the attention of the UK government, and it may not end well for the reseller market. Ever since the PS5 and Xbox Series X went up for pre-orders, stock has been gobbled up by scalpers and resellers using advanced bots to secure 1000s of orders in minutes. As a result, the PS5 and Xbox Series X have been incredibly hard to get, which in turn has drawn a lot of ire from PlayStation and Xbox fans, and this has drawn the attention of many that don’t normally care much about the video game industry, including the UK government.
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The situation has gotten so bad that one scalper recently openly bragged on Twitter that they secured 2,000 PS5 orders from GAME in its latest restock. That said, while resellers are out of control with the PS5 and Xbox Series X, their reign of terror may be coming to an end soon, at least in the UK.
Across the sea, the UK government is beginning to take notice of the situation, and it looks like it may be taking action soon. This week, Scottish National Party MP, Douglas Chapman, revealed he’s planning to propose a bill that will attempt to squash this issue. According to Chapman, right now, the average consumer doesn’t have fair access to the market, which is a problem.
“It’s simply not in the consumer’s interests to have lots of stock for in-demand, very exciting new products just being bought up en masse. It doesn’t give the ordinary consumer fair access to the market… It’s just so unfair for the ordinary person who just wants to play their game or give a gift to their child for Christmas. This situation’s just going to get worse and worse.”
At the moment of publishing, no piece of legislation has been proposed, let alone passed, but six Scottish National Party members have put forward an Early Day Motion calling for legislative proposals pertaining to resellers selling gaming consoles at exorbitant prices. Will anything come of this? Who knows, but it’s safe to say the reseller market could be in trouble if the PS5 and Xbox Series X don’t get easier to obtain in 2021, and right now, it doesn’t look like they will. The former was finally available today at Target, and despite the stock being released very early in the morning, it sold out within minutes.
H/T, BBC AND Gaming Bible.
