Amazon: Hope You Weren't Expecting Your Pre-Ordered PS5 to Ship on Time

With retailers royally jumping the gun on PlayStation 5 pre-orders, count yourself lucky if you managed to snag one before they sold out everywhere. Unless you got yours on Amazon. In which case, you might still be screwed.

An email Amazon sent to numerous pre-order customers on Friday warns that their console may not arrive by its release date (Nov. 12 in the U.S.). Several customers shared the message on social media, and it states that deliveries may be delayed “due to high demand.”

“We’ll make every effort to get the item to you as soon as possible once released,” the message continues.

Amazon’s email goes on to say that customers can track the status of their order on its website and cancel unshipped items if they so choose, though it noticeably doesn’t mention anything about an alternative delivery date for delayed orders. It’s not clear whether Amazon sent this email to everyone who pre-ordered a PS5 or only those in certain regions. We’ve reached out to Amazon for additional info, and will update this article with their response.

Sony has previously denied rumors that it could face stock shortages next month. Earlier this week, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan told the Washington Post that while the coronavirus pandemic initially caused distribution issues when it first hit, Sony would have “more PlayStation 5 units ready for sale than they had PlayStation 4 units in 2013" when it releases. To add some context to that, Sony sold a little more than 2 million PS4s worldwide in the first two weeks after its launch.

Amazon’s warning doesn’t inspire much confidence in that pledge, though. Granted, it could be that Amazon’s just pushing out this email as a precaution. As Polygon points out, the e-commerce giant does have a history of screwing up high-profile gaming releases, as we saw with the Nintendo Switch’s launch in 2017 and the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons earlier this year.

Unfortunately, it’s apparently not the only retailer breaking the bad news to those with PS5 pre-orders this week. According to Tom’s Guide, the Hong Kong-based retailer Play-Asia also sent an email blast to buyers on Friday encouraging them to cancel their pre-order due to “production and allocation limitations from distribution networks for the console.” It warned that PS5 stock is “incredibly scarce in all regions,” which only appears to confirm fears about a possible shortage come November.