PS5 buyers shouldn't camp out for launch day — Sony says its online-only

Sony PS5
(Image credit: Sony)

The next-gen consoles are finally almost here! If you didn't already get your pre-order in for a PS5, you might be trying to make plans for how to get one on November 12. And while Target appears to be one promising option, it's been a bit hazy what launch day would look like.

Sony has now offered a bit more clarity regarding launch day for the PS5 via a blog post by Sid Shurman, Senior Director of SIE Content Communications. He states that the PS5 will not be available to purchase in-store anywhere on launch day, all purchases will be online-only.

To be clear, that doesn't mean that there will not be consoles in stores, pre-orders that were set for pick-up or curbside pick-up from a retailer will be available following whatever procedures are in place from the retailer. 

And this doesn't necessarily contradict the aforementioned messaging from Target indicating that there will be PS5 consoles available for purchase on Target.com on launch day with the ability to pick-up in-store. Naturally, this availability is likely to be limited and vary considerably depending on your location.

Employee news posting regarding Xbox Series X and PS5 launch day availability

(Image credit: Reddit)

While Best Buy hasn't issued anything official on its plans, this image allegedly from a Best Buy employee was posted to a Reddit thread last week. It indicates that there would be no extra units shipped to stores, only those that were pre-ordered and designated for pick-up in advance. 

After the completely baffling PS5 pre-order process this is marginally better, but still somewhat unbelievably unclear with just days to go now before the console is officially available.

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.