The PS5 fell victim to a large number of scalpers who completely destroyed its economy. Two years later, Sony is worried about its PSVR 2 and tears out its fangs again.
Since its release the PS5 has been hard to find and things are just starting to improve and PS5s are coming in in the millions. The shortage of semiconductors due to Covid19 is one of the causes, if not the main cause, of the supply difficulties. But if the console is not found in the trading floor, the scalpers are also to blame. These people who buy bulk items, here PS5s, to resell them at astronomical prices. From now on, Sony draws the heavy artillery.
Sony VS Les Scalper
Asked by Famitsu A few days ago, Hideaki Nishino, vice president of Sony’s console division, said he was particularly saddened by the situation and regretted seeing that some players were penalized for this practice.
To counteract the issue of allowing gamers to have their PS5 and regulating supply concerns, Sony had already taken some internal measures and even launched an email campaign to offer PS5s directly to its customers.
Only here the problem has not been solved so far and we still find PS5s at completely surreal prices. Furthermore, when the manufacturer says the issues should be sorted out naturally, it still fears encountering such behavior on its next PSVR 2 and to prevent that, Sony is pulling out its fangs.
The company states that it has implemented a security feature that will force potential buyers to identify themselves as a legitimate customer before pre-ordering their PSVR 2.
By adding this extra layer of imperatives, Sony hopes to narrow the scope of scalpers and maybe even contain the problem for good.
PS5, PSVR 2… You have to identify yourself to buy them
For that added security, buyers must prove that they already own Sony equipment and have several dozen hours of PS5 or PS4 play on their account. A measure that is currently only mandatory through the manufacturer’s official website, the only place where it is currently possible to pre-order a PSVR 2 headset. A radical decision that some are already finding particularly intrusive, but if Sony claims the measure is difficult to implement, a similar system for PS5 purchases could soon see the light of day.
While we’ve currently received a lot of feedback on PSVR 2 pre-orders, with some asking if a similar system could be implemented for the PS5. However, privacy and security concerns make it difficult to use customer usage history on a large scale.
As for the PSVR 2, this time Sony is planning mass production ahead of time to ensure they have it in stock, which would also allow not to create shortages and therefore not see scalpers landing. Now it remains to be seen whether this will work.
We ran out of PS5s at launch, so this time we’re producing enough to meet demand. We believe the resale is due to an insufficient number of machines and we believe this situation is unhealthy so we want to make sure we have the right quantities this time.
The year 2023 promises to be busy
Sony has a keen interest in ensuring PS5 stock for next year as the new year starts off with a bang as January 2023 is already packed with game releases. Generally it is the whole of 2023 that should be important for the manufacturer and he has no room for error.
Sony will indeed provide its PSVR 2 from February, and a large number of PS5 exclusives such as Forspoken, Final Fantasy 16 or Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are also expected. Not to mention the still unannounced games like The Last of Us multiplayer which might surprise in the current year.
