Pre-orders went live for Grand Theft Auto 6’s new PS5 controllers this morning, and the experience was extremely chaotic.
As you might expect, there’s a ravenous demand for anything related to GTA 6. When Sony announced that they’d be opening up pre-orders for a pair of limited edition GTA 6-themed PS5 controllers last week, it was a safe bet that there’d be scalpers, store errors, and other disruptions in abundance — and that’s exactly what happened when pre-orders opened this morning.
I got into a queue on PlayStation’s online store half an hour before pre-orders began, and once the flood gates were opened, I was kicked to the back the line with an hour+ wait time. Thankfully, that time was quickly cut in half, likely from people unwilling to wait that long and leaving the queue, but even then, I still had issues. PlayStation’s website kept giving me an error when I tried to sign into my account, forcing me to open the store in a new browser on another device. Eventually, I got through, but it was friction I could’ve done without.
So far, the controllers appear to be selling out at various retailers, though there is still some availability at the time of writing. GameStop and Best Buy are sold out of the white controller, while Target and Amazon appear to have them stock. Meanwhile, the black controller is exclusive to PlayStation Direct and appears to still be availabile.
PlayStation has implemented a system where users can only purchase one controller per account, which will likely limit some scalping, but not eradicate the issue. The controllers are currently being resold for nearly double the price on eBay, though it remains to be seen if people will actually buy them. It’s unclear how long these controllers will remain in stock and if there will be a restock if they sell out.
With the release of pre-orders for the controller, we are just a little over two months away from the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. Marketing is in full swing now, though it’s unclear what will come next. Will there be another trailer for the game following the expansive, in-depth gameplay reveal? Will Rockstar talk about GTA Online before release? There are still a lot of questions, but at least we are in the endgame.
Grand Theft Auto 6 will release on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
