Xbox Series Pre-Orders Boast 'Record-Breaking Demand', More Stock To Arrive At Launch

Xbox Series X has Halo Infinite's delay, PlayStation 5 has the disastrous preorder situation.

To each, their own cluster#uck to even the odds. I'd say the latter is proving infinitely beneficial to Microsoft though.

Record breaking for xbox or for console releases in general? I'm guessing the former but if it's the latter sony ponies will likely say "that's just because it was a simultaneous release across each vendor within each time zone/region"

To which I'd respond, "So a more planned out release with plenty of advance notice? The way it should be done?"

Say what you will about scalpers and websites crashing. That happened for the ps5 and xbox preorders. That's something that needs addressing for sure. But Xbox definitely was a more ordered and preferable way of doing things...in my opinion!

It would be good to get some solid numbers for both, I'm sure they both sold well given stock limitations. In my experience the PS5 was the easier to get, probably because no one knew when preorders were going live. I'm just glad I secured both though, I have a feeling this generation is going to be a wild ride.

Apparently Xbox stock on Average was 3x higher than PS5. With one Gamestop in the US receiving the most allocation in their state of 33 Series X and 13 Series X. By comparison the same store got 6 PS5.

So while any in demand product is going to crash websites and stock is still limited. Microsoft seemed to do a lot better than Sony.

Record breaking demand... so sales are lower? I mean it’d make sense with what’s going on in the world, I think it’s going to be harder to break previous numbers because availability is lower.

The ONLY way to stop scalpers is to have more stock to meet the demand. Whose going to go and buy of Ebay from a Scalper demanding MORE money when you can go to a retailer and get one for RRP. All that happens is they get left with consoles they basically have to try and sell at cost or cancel their pre-order because there isn't 'money' to be made.

They must of known than demand would have been high at 8am too when the pre-orders went live - not just from gamers but also from scalpers wanting to get a 'pre-order' to sell on at a big profit. Its not easy to stop the Scalpers from pre-ordering but having enough stock to meet demand, and prepared their website for the traffic, things would have been easier...

I get the feeling this may end up being like Super Mario 3D All Stars... Lots of panic about pre-orders and shops selling out and then the thing is readily available on supermarket shelves on release day.

@TheGamerKing Congratulations you just proved yourself another peabrain moron by saying stupid $#|T like that. FYI actual sales would start from Nov 10 and yesterday literally all websites crashed/unavailable in seconds from start due to unprecedented pre-order booking demand. That’s the reality DEAL WITH IT!

I got the S pre-ordered; but I think I was the X instead. Think there will be more stock available online on launch day? I assume any stores that have them in stock will have people lined up over night to get them.

@Senua he has a point though, only so many units were preordered because of what units are available and I’m assuming it’s less than usual because of the China virus. Demand may have been huge, but the actual number of units sold and preordered is unknown and I’m sure if that was record breaking they’d be saying that instead.

@Xiovanni what did they do? o.o

@TheGamerKing @Senua Both of you, quit that. No need to get sassy, we're on a site about playing games.

I took part in that! Around 11:20 a.m I pre-ordered directly from Microsoft Store! Left with a $533.11 pricetag I have to say I can't stop smiling!

The only other console I've purchased on Day 1 was the Nintendo Gamecube and this feels like deja vu!

@XBontendo I love that tag line

I will be surprised if they have sufficient stock by November. I'm still interested in buying one, but expect the same quick sellout on November 10th and whenever retailers get more before then. I'm not confident I can buy one this year.

@Medic_Alert Agreed. If the preorder debacle was PS5's only launch problem it wouldn't even be an issue worth talking about. It's the silence that makes Nintendo look like a Chatty Cathy. They have said so little about the box at all, and like you said, we've already bought the darned thing and still don't even know exactly what we've bought.....and most of what they do say turns out to be either untrue, or bad news they were planning on hiding as long as they could. You can't really get a worse launch than actually selling something without telling anyone what you're selling, while the internet takes your price policies and runs with it.

@Fenbops Sony promised substantially more units available than for PS4, despite the plague. I'd be surprised if Microsoft didn't also have a lot. They have far more ability to have a larger manufacturing capacity than even Sony, and they certainly know a $300 launch console is going to sell faster than water in a desert.

Both of the companies were going to sell out at launch regardless, so this is no surprise.

At least Microsoft handled the pre-orders better than Sony’s clown show.

I'd love to know the numbers for both platforms, but I don't think we'll ever get them.

Anyone in North London need a X I have an extra one on order I don't need. I got one for me from MS store and One for my sons birthday from Amazon. Of course he called me last night to tell me he'd snagged a X pre-order. Guess it will save me some money, I ordered him some Cyberpunk swag instead. A lot cheaper

I'm getting 360 vibes from this upcoming gen..

@TheGamerKing It’s no brainer that by demand, they meant pre-order sales. There was literally no Series X left within seconds from being available, either the website crashed or they went out of stock before one could check out from the cart.

Also aren’t you the same pushsquare guy who comes here to crap on literally everything about xbox?

I hope MS is working hard on getting enough consoles on the shelves, because I'm very annoyed about not being able to preorder despite being there in the Microsoft Store second one.

Still have a darned unit on my cart that refuses to checkout.

Seriously considering canceling all the smart delivery games I preordered, since its extremely likely I will spend months without the console and by the time I get the thing I could just buy those games at a discount.

@FraserG I just got an email from citizen one, the company that handles the financing for Xbox all access, and they said congratulations on my purchase of Xbox all access.

I had tried to get my preorder of the Xbox series x and also the series s through GameStop, but the website kept crashing and when it refreshed itself it said my cart was empty. I tried both just in case the other was sold out but could not get either to work.

Do you think the preorder actually went through or if I’m still in some kind of holding? When I went to confirm my citizen one account I checked my purchase history and it was empty. I can send you screenshots if needed, but curious if you have heard anything about this or seen similar reports.

@Scenes Definitely wasn't the case here. 17 PS5 with disk and 8 discless vs 6 Series Xs and 2S.

My other gamestop was 21 PS5 with disc, 8 discless, versus 7 Xs and 3 S's.

I know what I’ll be doing on November 10th... Stopping at my local Target upon opening😅

@InterceptorAlpha yeah the GameStop by my house was 5 Xs and 1 S. The manager said each GameStop was only guaranteed 5 units. However, they said Target had stock left long after them. I’m wondering if MS cut their allotment because they didn’t sale the Xbox One S All Digital?

@FraserG thank you for the help!

Hopefully no one was stupid enough to buy one from a scalper

@FraserG hey idk if you ever hear any other reports besides mine, but for anyone that took the time to get approved for the Xbox all access through GameStop should be receiving an email by 9/30/20 for how to complete their preorder. Sounds like we should be getting the console after all! Thanks again for the help!