Guaranteeing a PlayStation 4 on launch date is already becoming a tricky task for those who didn’t pre-order before August and now Sony UK’s Fergal Gara believes that there may well be a ‘sell-out situation’.
Gara says that with over a million pre-orders for the PS4 already logged, the company is looking at a figure higher than he’s seen “in 20 years in this business”. Discussing the reasons why Sony stopped retailers from taking any more PS3 pre-orders in the U.K. earlier this month, Gara said it was to ensure that “nobody over promises and under delivers”. “We are going to be looking at a sell-out situation,” he continues, “and chasing demand, it’s a problem, it’s kind of a good problem to have, but it is a problem and we’re trying to manage that as responsibly as we possibly can”.
There’s certainly a concern that some retailers may have already taken on more pre-orders than they can deliver as Gara admits that Sony is only just beginning conversations with retailers about how many PS4 units they’ll get at launch. However, he does say that it may actually be able to fulfil orders on day one from those who pre-ordered after the early August cut-off date.
The PlayStation 4 launches in the U.K. on November 29 and November 15 in North America.
Source – OPM