It's Christmas day, and one of the most-wanted products this holiday season was Sony's PlayStation 5 console. Many expected to wake up this morning to find a PlayStation 5 under their tree, but sadly, it looks like that wasn't the case for a lot of people. "No PS5" is currently one of the top trends on Twitter, with nearly 15,000 people tweeting so far about how they did not get a PlayStation 5 console this Christmas.
One of the main reasons why many people are going without a PS5 this holiday season is due to the console's scarcity and the inability to keep up with the demand. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused a supply strain that makes getting a PlayStation 5 console very difficult for anyone that wants one, and that problem has been exacerbated by other issues, namely scalpers and automated bots.
Bots have been used to claim PS5 consoles as soon as they go on sale, making it virtually impossible for many real people to order one of their own. Meanwhile, scalpers have been buying as many PlayStation 5s as they can, with the express purpose of re-selling them at extremely high prices. Leading up to Christmas, it wasn't uncommon to see many PS5s listed for sale on online marketplaces for well over $1,000.
Next Christmas, it should be a lot easier for people to get a PlayStation 5 if they want one. 2021 should see PS5s become more readily available, especially as the initial hype dies down and scalpers turn their attention to other things. Supply should catch up to demand, at which point it shouldn't be difficult to simply walk into a store and walk out with a PlayStation 5. It may be quite a few months before that happens, but getting a PS5 should just get easier as time goes on.
And on the bright side, most of the PlayStation 5's games are playable on a PS4 anyway. This includes big holiday releases like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, not to mention many of the year's biggest multiplatform releases. As far as pure exclusives go, right now the PS5 pretty much only has the pack-in title Astro's Playroom as well as the Demon's Souls remake. There are quite a few big PS5 games releasing in 2021, so the console's library should be much more impressive next Christmas.
Even so, that may not make those upset about not getting a PS5 feel any better about the situation. Here's hoping PS5 supply meets demand ASAP and those interested don't have to wait too much longer to get their hands on one.