Update: Walmart now says it won’t do in-store  PS5 pre-orders, in a bid to control traffic into its stores during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Original Story: If you’re looking for an alternative to the chaos that has become online PS5 pre-orders, Walmart will allow customers to reserve the console in stores on September 22. After a frustrating rollout, this could be the closest thing consumers will see to a surefire opportunity at Sony’s next generation console,.

In July, Sony stated that “plenty of notice” would be given as to when and where PS5 pre-orders would be going live. Instead, the exact opposite appears to be true, with almost every retailer launching pre-orders late on Wednesday night with no notice and selling out within minutes.

Now, Walmart is hoping to give consumers a break from the frustration by offering a chance to pre-order the console in person. Each store will be enforcing COVID-19 protocol and requiring the use of masks, but it’s worth noting that highly anticipated in-store releases like these tend to get hectic, so make sure to keep that in mind.

There is also indication that September 22 could mark the date where other retailers will drop more PS5 pre-orders as well. Sony’s own pre-orders that were offered through the company’s previously dedicated website are expected to go live on that same day, meaning that the date could bring a restock for additional stores too.

Sony has also stated that more PS5s will be available on the console’s November 12 launch than there were PS4s back in 2013. Based on that and the small window of availability that we’ve seen thus far, it’s more than likely that additional pre-order opportunities will be offered in the coming weeks.

On the other end of the competition, Microsoft has stated that pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will go live on September 22 at 8am PST. The announcement of a clear date and time is vastly different than the PS5’s retailer-by-retailer zero notice rollout.

The PS5 will offer an impressive rotation of launch day games, and it’s no wonder why hype for the console has been at an all time high. If you’ll be hunting for a chance to pre-order the console in the coming weeks, best of luck!

Source: Digital Trends

NEXT: Scalpers Are Already Charging £1500 For The PS5