So many people tried to order the PS5 on its Nov. 12 launch day that Walmart’s site buckled under the traffic. Aside from steep markups on the secondary market, we haven’t seen Sony’s shiny new game console on sale since — but all that has changed now that we know that Walmart will be releasing inventory of the PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on Thursday, Nov. 19.
Like the retailer did in the run-up to launch day, Walmart is sharing news about console availability via tweet. Shortly after noon on Nov. 18, Walmart announced that the store will have “more #PS5 & #Xbox Series X available ONLINE only on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 3 PM ET.”
Our friends at GameSpot have managed to fill in a few additional details. According to GameSpot, all four versions will be available, including the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5, and PS5 Digital Edition. As the tweet says, this will be online only, so don’t even bother trying to wait in line at a brick and mortar location. And the magic time is 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET.
Let’s be real with each other for a moment: Your odds of snagging a console this week aren’t great. We saw what happened at the launch, when the site shuddered under the load of fans trying to buy a console and most people went home empty-handed. We don’t expect the situation to be dramatically better this time around, but at least a few of us should be able to snag a console. If you are one of the successful ones, please let us know in the comments.
To make it a little easier to quickly get to the product page at game time, as it were, we’ve linked to the Walmart product pages of all the consoles below. Looking for other retailers? Check for restocks at Amazon, GameStop and Target here.
Sony
This is the less pricey Digital Edition, which has an 825GB SSD but lacks the optical drive. If you have a good broadband connection, your money is best spent right here.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
The cream of the PlayStation crop, this console includes an 825GB SSD and Blu-ray optical drive.
This is a step-down from the $499 Xbox Series X. It plays all the same games, but it’s capped at 1440p resolution, has half as much storage (500GB vs. 1TB) and lacks the Series X’s Blu-ray player.
Microsoft
This is Microsoft’s top-of-the-line console equipped with four times the processing power of the Xbox One, has Blu-ray, 1TB drive for storage and a full 4K resolution.
Full PlayStation 5 coverage
- PS5 review: Sony built a space-age game console for your next-gen dreams
- The best PS5 games you’ll need to play
- PS5 vs. Xbox Series X: The next-gen consoles we’re buying and why
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