Best Buy, one of the most well-known and storied electronics retailers on the planet is not allowing shoppers to purchase either the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X/S in stores until sometime in 2021.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get one.
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Both consoles will be releasing this week, and gamers all over the world are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the latest gaming hardware.
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But if you want to get one from Best Buy, you’re going to have to go about it a little differently.
Best Buy has confirmed that it will not be making these consoles available to walk-in customers until next year, seemingly as a means of controlling foot traffic through the physical locations as the COVID-19 pandemic ramps back up for another strike at the world. But you can still buy them online.
“While our stores won’t have devices for purchase on launch day or throughout the holiday season, keep an eye on BestBuy.com, where they’ll be available for purchase as soon as we have them available,” Katie Huggins from Best Buy said in a recent blog post. “This means there’s no need to camp out at your local store. Just check back on BestBuy.com without leaving home.”
This sentiment was recently echoed by Sony, as lining up for long periods of time outside of retail locations with other people could create a “super spreader” type event at a time where the United States is seeing around 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day.
Best Buy stated clearly that customers can order any of the new consoles online or through the Best Buy mobile app. They can then set up contactless curbside service or in-store pick up.
Best Buy has stated that you won’t actually be able to purchase one of these consoles in one of its stores until sometime in 2021 at the very earliest.
Best Buy is not doing any kind of special opening for the console launches, with doors opening at 9 a.m. local time on the day of launch. Customers who were lucky enough to be able to preorder these consoles can reserve special pickup times that start as early as 6 a.m. This is being done as a way to avoid large crowds on November 10 and 12 when the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 release respectively.
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The PlayStation 5 is releasing on November 12 in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. It will release to the rest of the world on November 19.