Tim Sweeney, the chief executive officer of Epic Games, revealed that he himself hasn't got his hands on a PlayStation 5. This has surprised plenty of people, and it's one more example that shows how scarce stocks of the consoles are around the world.
Ugh. Those videos of the PlayStation 5 being smashed to smithereens aren't quite as quirky when people aren't able to find a console not for love nor money. What stocks we had were snapped up with vigor by the scalpers who would then sell them on for two or three times the asking price. The government in the United Kingdom actually announced that it would be implementing measures against "cybercriminal activity" and targeting "unscrupulous vendors" that were capitalising on the FOMO of "genuine gamers." Of course, the part that is the most difficult to swallow about this situation is that it isn't going to get easier to bag a PlayStation 5 in the months ahead.
Check out our review of Returnal, the most recent exclusive for the PlayStation 5 from Housemarque. Not only is it offering an esoteric story about Selene's strange connection to the planet, it uses the haptic feedback of the DualSense to an extraordinary effect.
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A shortage of semiconductors is the issue that's plaguing not only Sony but a large number of companies in industries from vehicle manufacture to personal computers. "We have not been able to fully meet the high level of demand from customers [but] we continue to do everything in our power to ship as many units as possible to customers who are waiting for a PS5," said chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki in February.
And, it appears Tim Sweeney is one of the poor souls who've missed out. Speaking in the trial between Epic Games and Apple (yep, it's still happening), he said that he doesn't have a PlayStation 5 in his house. However, he does have access to the console in his office at work, so it's not all doom and gloom. It is curious, though, seeing as one of the very early demonstrations of the power of the PlayStation 5 was through Unreal Engine 5, which is owned by Epic Games. Chief technical officer Kim Libreri even stated that the console's "next-gen graphics and processing power will not only make games more immersive, but will also enable entirely new gameplay concepts that can take advantage of fully dynamic environments and lighting, much improved physics, smarter AI, and richer multiplayer experiences."
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You would assume that Epic Games would have ensured there'd be a PlayStation 5 in every employee office, due to their praise for the platform and the fact that they want to push its hardware to the limit. But, even if you're a company worth almost $30 billion, it seems that the console will elude you for some time yet.
Featured Image Credit: Epic Games, Kerde Severin via PexelsTopics: epic games, News, PlayStation
