In case you’ve been living under a small boulder for the last year, you may not know that PlayStation 5s are notoriously difficult to get your hands on right now. The console is still constantly out of stock though it’s coming to its first birthday in mid-November and retail outlets are now turning to using paywalls for preorders. And that sucks.
Two different American outlets have now announced services that consumers will have to pay for to access preorders to the PlayStation 5. VGC reports that both Walmart and Best Buy have their own subscription plans that lock the ability to buy or preorder the Sony console behind expensive fees. It’s unfair to families that feel the Playstation 5 is already expensive, though maybe it does prevent the practice of scalping.
Advert
The original reports say that at Walmart, customers must now have “Walmart+” which costs $98 a year or $12.95 a month to order a PlayStation 5. Additionally, those who have this service will get early access to other parts of the company’s promotions like discounts, free delivery and Black Friday deals.
For Best Buy, the situation is similar. Pay $199.99 for the Totaltech protection plan and you’ll be able to also buy a PS5. Additionally, this deal will allow you to receive free delivery on items and insurance on tech purchases as well as installation if you need it.
Both of these deals are expensive, though the Walmart plan might only be $12.95 extra for the product if you cancel after the first month. It does suck that companies are withholding stock to make sure you buy their plans. However, it seems Sony is now turning to distribute its own consoles now, which may bypass these retailers, but PlayStation Direct is limited to certain territories at the moment.
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PlayStation