PlayStation 5 pre-orders in the first 12 hours beat PlayStation 4’s first 12 weeks of sales

Even though the console has yet to reach the hands of the average consumer, it seems that Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5 is already breaking sales records. In just the first 12 hours that it was available for pre-order, the PlayStation 5 sold more than the PlayStation 4 did in its first 12 weeks.

While the PlayStation 4 was seen to have “won” the eight-generation “console war” against its rival, the Xbox One, a new generation was always a chance for console manufacturers to catch up. The numbers, as reported by Reuters, however, seem to indicate that Sony is carrying that lead into the upcoming ninth-generation of consoles.

That said, it would be too early to discount Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles. Early reports are also showing that the console is selling well in world markets where the Xbox brand has traditionally done poorly.

This surge in pre-orders for both ninth-generation consoles has led to some to speculate that the COVID-19 pandemic is helping drive sales as gamers spend more time at home due to quarantines. Indeed, the video game industry seems to be going through a small boom even as the global pandemic rages on.

With no end to the global pandemic in sight, both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles provide the promise of entertainment, escape and social interaction that many may be looking for.

Of course, the sudden surge also raises questions of whether or not the companies can meet the demand at launch. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer already said that he believes both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will sell out during the holiday season. Meanwhile, Sony CEO Jim Ryan has called the demand for their consoles “very considerable” and warned that not all pre-orders would be fulfilled on launch day.

How will this affect PS5 supply in the Philippines?

Here in the Philippines the question of whether or not people will be able to get the PlayStation 5 at launch is complicated by the lack of any official word from Sony.

Indeed, the only Southeast Asian country where the PlayStation 5 has a firm release date is Singapore, where the console is set to launch on November 19.

More worrying is the fact that official PlayStation 5 websites for countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are lacking the “launches holiday 2020” that’s prominently displayed in other countries’ sites. This has led to speculation that the PlayStation 5 may miss the holidays in these countries.

That, however, has not stopped some local retailers from trying to offer deals for the consoles. Most recently, DataBlitz announced an offer where they would include a free PlayStation 5 with every pre-order of Asus’s 65-inch ROG Swift PG65UQ monitor. With an estimated SRP of Php 260,000 (and a Php 25,000 pre-order downpayment), this bundle doesn’t seem to be an economical way to guarantee the purchase of a PlayStation 5 at launch.

That said, the announcement of the bundle does hint that DataBlitz will most likely have PlayStation 5 consoles on hand for sale, if not when it launches, then within the year—the Asus monitor launches on December 1 after all.

Hopefully, when the time comes, there are enough PlayStation 5 units for everyone looking to pick one up.