In something to be expected by now, a tech pre-order was bungled. AntOnline has sent out a statement stating “Hello pre-order console seekers! We are experiencing technical difficulties due to bots. We sold out quickly of limited pre-order quantities and will keep you updated. Thank you!”. But in reality, it was likely a publicity stunt.

A day ago, several media outlets reported that AntOnline would have access to PS5 pre-order units today at 2:00 PST. Of course that got everyone’s hopes up. However, reminiscent of the 3090 release, it was sold out before the release.

What’s the smoking gun?

Think about it, a relatively unknown eCommerce website sends out releases to Forbes and CNET to build up buzz about potential PS5 pre-orders, only for it to turn out that the pre-orders where already gone before the 2:00 PM EST release was hit. There are only a few options, and none of them are good signs. AntOnline is one of these thing:

• Incompetent for not learning from NVIDIA’s mistake and not implementing Captcha
• Had employees post incoming PS5 units on Ebay while making visitors think that they actually have PS5’s in stock
• They didn’t have any stock in the first place and still drummed up publicity

With MSI being busted for having their subsidiary post PS5 units on Ebay, it’s become a completely plausible theory that companies are creating faux launches (not actually having any units available) to drum up publicity. With a relatively unknown platform that is AntOnline, the likelihood of this being the case skyrockets.

Our Recommendation

There is a very high probability that a large chunk of gamers will not be able to purchase the PS5 until 2021. Absolutely do not buy from resellers/ scalpers as it only encourages their behavior. Not only that, but as our article on the 3080 states, it’s rarely a good idea to buy the first generation of any product in order to account for bugs and glitches.