GAME responds to PlayStation 5 scalper concerns

3 years 2 months ago

One continuing headache for video game buyers remains the ready shortage of next-gen platforms PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Both Sony and Microsoft's highly sought-after consoles continue to pop up at online retailers, only to sell out in scant minutes, inevitably leaving customers disappointed and frustrated.

Adding fury to mix, however, is the addition of "scalpers," individuals or groups who purchase multiple consoles en masse, before immediately offering them for re-sale, often at hugely inflated prices. While scalping has been prevalent in retail for decades, modern technology has made the practice more difficult to combat than ever before, due to the creation of bot software that carries out the sales process automatically.

Early this week, UK retailer GAME took stock of its latest batch of PS5 consoles, all of which – naturally – sold out in double-quick time. Soon afterward, a scalper firm took to Twitter to claim that it had successfully acquired over 2000 consoles from the sale, via the use of its bot software. Other Twitter users also claimed of having bagged multiple PS5 units, most with a flammable, antagonistic attitude that makes the claims harder to believe.

GAME responds to PlayStation 5 scalper concerns screenshot

Read more...
Author
Chris Moyse