The PlayStation 5 console release has been at the core of gaming news ever since it’s release in November, with the console repeatedly selling out amid a substantial deficit between supply and demand. As Christmas rolls in the PS5 will sit atop many kid’s Christmas lists, seeing parents flock to the high street and stare at websites until they’ve secured their flagship present.
For Sony, this has been an amazing start to the next-generation of consoles, seeing the PlayStation 5 sales surpass stock levels time and time again and with each injection of new consoles, they are being lapped up.
The problem for Sony and distributors like Amazon, is that we aren’t seeing the consoles purchased by customers for use, instead, the consoles are being bought in large amounts by resellers, making use of the demand and lack of supply and placing eye-watering prices on their newly gained merchandise.
To put it simply, for many families out there, these resellers are the personification of the Grinch who stole Christmas, as paying double the retail value is not an option for most, whereas some feel like they need to pay the inflated values, so the monster still gets fed, exacerbating the situation for parents of the former description.
With this launch, the divide between business and customer grows, Sony have had a successful console launch commercially, but they’re doing no favours for customers by allowing the exploitation to continue.
Amazon landed themselves in hot water for delivering unrelated items in lieu of the console, and UK based second-hand retailer CEX has seen criticisms for selling the consoles at an inflated rate. It would appear that businesses like Sony, Amazon, and CEX are failing to strike the balance between commercial and financial success and customer relations, and a seeming lack of regard for true custom is dangerous moving forward.
The video game market is largely community-based and we have seen disdain for companies prove toxic to their commercial viability in the future, PlayStation was born from a business disagreement from Sony and Nintendo and its success was a result of the ability Sony had to listen to the gaming community.
A company like CEX relies on high street custom and the quite blatant attempt to mimic the resellers is a dangerous maneuver that could see a sour reaction turn custom elsewhere to their competitors.
