Where to buy PS5: Restock updates and how to pre-order Sony’s elusive PlayStation 5 console

They’re selling like hot cakes, but we’ve got all the details on the latest PS5 stock drops

The PS5 has been out for over eight months now and gamers are still struggling to get their hands on Sony’s newest console. Stock issues have plagued the PS5 ever since it launched last year, and the restock kerfuffle is still going on today.

The sad tale began in November, when excited gamers tore open PS5 parcels that they had pre-ordered, only to find them replaced with cat food, a George Foreman grill and a bag of grain. Whenever more PS5s were made available, they were snapped up almost immediately, with scalpers leading the charge.

Availability of the PS5 isn’t likely to improve until later in the year thanks to the global shortage in semiconductors due to increased demand for electronics. Some reports even suggest that the Suez Canal blockage could have contributed to even more delays in stock. 

Follow live: PS5 restock UK: Tracking stock live from all the major retailers

“The pace of the improvement in the supply chain will gather throughout the course of the year,” Jim Ryan, Sony’s CEO, told The Financial Times. “By the time we get to the second half of [2021], you’re going to be seeing really decent numbers indeed.”  

May was one of the best months for restocks since the PS5 was first released. We saw a massive drop from Game and Amazon and shorter, smaller drops at AO, Very, Currys, Argos, Asda and BT. That said, June was quite the opposite, with Very and Game being the only bright spots in a desolate PS5 restock landscape. Here’s hoping July will be better.

Why is the PS5 out of stock?

There’s a number of reasons why the PS5 is always out of stock, but it all stems from the same source: the Covid-19 crisis. The PS5 launched in the middle of a global pandemic. When the manufacturing industry shut down and snapped production supply chains.

But while household appliances and rolls of tissue paper eventually came back into stores and onto shelves, the PS5 has proved a different beast entirely.