Games retailers have been overwhelmed with demand for PlayStation’s latest console which launched in the UK on Thursday.
Web pages dedicated to the launch of the PlayStation 5 at John Lewis, Tesco and Game had all crashed on Thursday morning. Curry’s had instituted a queuing system.
With much of their stock already sold via pre-orders, Game, Curry’s, John Lewis and Argos all said they had sold out of the £449 console by 10.10am on Thursday.
John Lewis said: “There have been extremely high levels of demand for our website this morning and we are experiencing some technical issues. Our teams are working hard to get the site running smoothly again as soon as possible. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.”
Game also warned that some deliveries of the console could be delayed because of nationwide “delivery challenges” caused by the launch.
It said the courier firm Yodel had warned that “capacity issues” meant that some pre-ordered machines would not arrive until Friday.
In an email to customers it said: “Due to the volume of PlayStation 5s in the UK market and the size of the product, the launch has led to UK-wide delivery challenges for all retailers and couriers.
“Our aim has always been to ensure that as many orders arrive on time for release day as possible, therefore we have had to secure multiple couriers to help try to achieve this.”
The PS5 problems come as gaming kits are expected to be a hot seller in the run-up to Christmas as families look for new ways to entertain themselves during a less sociable festive season than usual.