At the start of sales of the PlayStation 5 consoles will be available only in online stores – not in retail

Sony announced this in an official blog a few hours after the recording, which only concerned the start of sales in Japan. The Covid-19 pandemic was also cited as the reason: the company wants customers to stay at home as much as possible and take precautions.

On the day of the console’s release on November 19, you will not be able to purchase it in retail stores – give up plans to visit or queue in stores in your city on this day in the hope of purchasing a PS5. Take care of yourself, stay at home and place your order online.

from the Sony statement

You will only be able to purchase the console at launch from partner retailers via online stores. Anyone who has already pre-ordered at retail will still be able to pick up the PS5 at a specific point of sale. The time and conditions are set by the sellers themselves, so Sony advises buyers to contact them in advance and clarify when and how they can get the device.

The Japanese division of PlayStation also said that the starting batches of next-generation consoles allocated to the country are completely disassembled. Whether there are enough supplies around the world is still unclear. Many online stores have already stopped collecting pre-orders, as they have reached the limit allocated for them, but, for example, you can still place an order in the official Russian Sony Store.

The PS5 release in Russia and most of the world will take place on November 19. In some regions, including the United States and Japan, the console will go on sale a week earlier, on the 12th.