Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has revealed that demand for the PlayStation 5 is through the roof. With just weeks to go until the next-gen console launches, Ryan confirmed that US pre-order numbers paint a very encouraging picture for the PS5 launch - encouraging for Sony, at least.
In an interview with Reuters, Ryan said that "the demand as expressed by the level of pre-order has been very, very considerable". He went on to reveal that Sony shifted as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours of pre-orders in the US as PS4 consoles sold via pre-order in its first 12 weeks. While we are in a pandemic and people are likely a lot more wary of attending a midnight launch or going into a store, that's still pretty damn impressive.
Ryan would get into any specifics in regards to PS5 pre-order numbers, but we can safely assume that it's a pretty high number. PS4 pre-order figures aren't known, but the current-gen console did pass 1 million pre-orders worldwide by July 2013, four months before the console had even launched. This would also line up with the fact that the PS5 reportedly accounts for a whopping 72% of next-gen pre-orders in the US.
As reported by GI.biz, a study that ran from September 23rd to the 25th used a sample of 511 US-based respondents. It found that 72% opted for the disc edition of the PS5. 30% chose the Xbox Series X. 10% went for the PS5 digital edition, and 8% for the Xbox Series S.
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While this is obviously great for the folk over at Sony and PlayStation, the pre-order success does come with some rather unfortunate caveats for those of you who were still hoping to secure a PS5 at launch. Ryan admitted in his interview that "it may well be that not everybody who wants to buy a PS5 on launch day will be able to find one". He added that the firm's "working as hard as it can" to make sure as many people can get a console.
This is slightly at odds with what Sony said just a few months ago, when it assured fans who missed out on pre-orders that there would be plenty of consoles to go around at launch. If you haven't secured one yet, hopefully you'll get lucky before launch.
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PlayStation 5