A NEW WEEK, and new PS5 drops could be happening according to stock insiders – with gamers still eager to get their hands on a console.
UK retailer GAME is reportedly going to drop PS5 stock “after 9am”. this morning
The console is still listed as “out of stock” on the website, but shoppers have been urged to get ready.
PS5UPDATEUK tweeted: “Keep your eyes peeled around 9 as GAME could drop today!”
And there are rumours from stock tracking sites claim consoles will land at Very, John Lewis and Argos in the next seven days too – although, as always, nothing is guaranteed.
Tracker @PS5StockAlertUK tweeted: “Major Retailer Predictions – GAME, Very & John Lewis (23rd-25th)… Argos (25th-26th) – Amazon (30th-1st) – Smyths (31st-2nd).
“These are only predictions. Retailers not on this list mean we have no information or expectancies from them. More info soon.”
The restock news comes as Curry’s made a dramatic change to way customers can buy PS5s, introducing a new “raffle” system.
The tech retailer is planning to scrap the queue system it and many other websites have previously used as it “unfairly” rewards those with stronger interview connections and with time to sit online.
Now Curry’s is allowing customers to register for a “priority pass” which enters them into a raffle which in turn gives them a special code that’s valid for 72 hours and allows them to make a PS5 purchase.
Follow our PS5 live blog below for the very latest news, updates and stock drop rumours…
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AMAZON EXPECTING LARGER AMOUNT OF STOCK THIS WEEKEND
Amazon is expected at least 3,000 more PS5 consoles to be delivered this weekend.
According to PS5StockAlertUK, Amazon is expecting 8,000 PS5s, at least 3,000 more than their usually 5,000 restock.
Amazon replied to the Tweet claiming that gamers should check back on the website regularly and periodically as there is no specific date for restock.
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DUTCH AMAZON RESTOCK SELLS OUT IN SECONDS
Amazon in The Netherlands restocked the PS5 console a few minutes ago.
But the drop sold out in less than 60 seconds.
Shoppers complained on Twitter that the consoles went “extremely fast”.
UK customers would need to pay extra delivery costs and buy a UK adapter.
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PS5 GIVEAWAY
Two trusted PS5 stock trackers have joined forces to giveaway not one but TWO consoles.
To enter the giveaway see the tweet below:
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NEW HORROR GAME SET FOR PS5 LAUNCH
A brand new horror game inspired by Silent Hills is set for release on the PS5 soon, GameRant reports.
Evil Inside will be available on the console later this month.
According to GameRant, the game is a “first-person psychological horror” which focuses on a man who attempts to contact his murdered mother using a spiritual board.
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BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS RELEASE DELAYED UNTIL 2022
The release of forthcoming Batman game Gotham Knights has been pushed back to 2022.
In a statement published on social media, Warner said it was “giving the game more time to deliver the best possible experience for players”.
“Thank you to our amazing fans for your tremendous support of Gotham Knights,” it continued.
“We look forward to showcasing more of the game in the coming months.”
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XBOX AVAILABLE
If you can’t wait to get your hands on a PlayStation 5 then you could grab an Xbox Series S.
The consoles are in stock on Amazon now for £249.99.
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ADVICE TO SHOPPERS TO STAY SAFE FROM SCAMS
If you use Facebook, Twitter or Google then you may have heard of two-factor authentication.
It’s an extra step you can enable that lets you protect your account – beyond simply having a password.
It means that if your password has been hacked (or guessed), your account will remain safe.
NHS boss Helen Bevan saw her two Twitter accounts broken into and used to flog fake PS5 listings – but because she did not have two-factor authentication activated, hackers were able to break into her accounts after guessing her password.
They then changed the email address and password associated with those accounts so that she could not recover them.
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AO STOCK UPDATE
It looks like AO could be dropping new stock very soon.
PS5UKStock tweeted: “It looks like AO are gearing up for a drop.
“Doesn’t look like a particularly big one but we can’t see the full stock here.
“Photo is AO proven, but not timestamped. Credit to IsaacTech for providing this.
“Remember AO sometimes take phone orders.”
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AVERAGE UK GAMER PLAYS 8.5 HOURS A WEEK
The average UK gamer spends 8.5 hours playing video games, according to the State of Online Gaming research report.
China takes the top spot with an average of 12.4 hours, followed by Vietnam with 10.2 hours.
- 1 – China – 12.4 hours
- 2 – Vietnam – 10.2 hours
- 3 – India – 8.6 hours
- 4 – UK – 8.5 hours
- 5 – Indonesia – 8.5 hours
- 6 – USA – 7.7 hours
- 7 – Germany – 7.1 hours
- 8 – South Korea – 5.9 hours
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PENSIONERS GAME FOR EIGHT HOURS A WEEK, STUDY SAYS
Pensioners are spending more than eight hours playing video games every week, a report has revealed.
An in-depth report by data experts Limelight Networks called ‘The State of Online Gaming’ even found that some OAPs are so hooked on games – either on consoles, computers or smart phones – they miss out on sleep and meals.
The study quizzed 5,000 people and found that the average pensioner played games for 8.3 hours a week.
A total of 13 per cent spent a whopping 20 hours or more playing video games, with games like Candy Crush, Clash of the Clans, World of Warcraft among the most popular, following by shoot ‘em ups, strategy games, chess and solitaire.
Compared to younger generations, the OAP gamers weren’t far behind in the top score charts, only beaten in how many hours they played games online by those in the 26-35 and 36-45 age groups.
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CONTINUED
Dorian Bloch, senior client director at GfK, which compiled some of the data, said: “The 2020 big winner by format was Nintendo Switch.
“During the initial Covid lockdown period, we saw massive growth from Switch software sales, up 215% over the equivalent 13 weeks of 2019.
“Xbox One and PS4 also enjoyed uplifts and of course, at the tail end of 2020 we saw the introduction of PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, whose effect will be significant for 2021 and beyond.”
The gaming sector boom is topped off by another £199 million from other game culture products, such as toys and merchandise.
However, the pandemic had a negative impact on game-related properties like movies – where there was a fall of 22.2% – as well as denting physical game events and venues by 97.2%, down from £8.80 million in 2019.
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UK GAMING MARKET HIT RECORD £7BN IN 2020
Video gaming in the UK was boosted by the arrival of a “new console generation” last year as the market surged to a record £7 billion.
Players pushed the sector’s value up 29.9% compared to 2019 with increases across both digital and physical sales, according to a report by gaming industry body Ukie.
Digital sales took the lion’s share totalling £3.90 billion, with digital console revenues rising 24.2%, mobile games up by 21.3% and digital PC adding 14.8%.
Despite store closures as the UK went in and out of lockdown, traditional boxed game titles also climbed by 7.1% to £646 million, but pre-owned game-buying took a hit, diving 22.8% compared to the year before.
Gaming hardware raked in £2.26 billion, thanks partly to new launches of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, with console hardware alone making up £853 million of that figure, up 74.8%.
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AMAZON STOCK UPDATE
It looks as though Amazon may be about to make a big restock.
A PS5 stock alert account has said the retail giant is set to get 8,000 consoles this weekend.
PS5StockAlertUK tweeted: “News: Amazon is expecting around 8K stock to be delivered this weekend.
“There may be more shipment deliveries made that I don’t know other than this.
“8K might sound small to you, but Amazon have always released under 5K stock each restock, so this shows an increase in supply.”
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XBOX IS ‘REAL THREAT’ TO PS5
The Xbox Series S is now a “real threat” to Sony’s PlayStation 5, according to one expert.
Senior writer at TechRadar, Adam Vjestica said: “It may have cost $7.5 billion dollars to make me realize it, but Microsoft’s Xbox Series S suddenly makes sense. Almost to the point where I’d consider it a genuine threat to Sony’s PS5.
“The Xbox Series S was designed to be an affordable entry point into the Xbox ecosystem and next-gen gaming – and while some may argue that a commonly found resolution of 1080p in the majority of titles doesn’t qualify as a true generational leap – it’s hard to deny that Microsoft’s all-white Xbox hasn’t achieved its lofty goal.”
He continued: “Now, I’m not saying that people will start trading in their PS5 consoles en masse, but what the Xbox Series S could become is the perfect companion console to Sony’s machine.
“Much like how in every Xbox 360 and PS3 household you’d often find a Wii, the Xbox Series S has the potential to reach an audience that simply wouldn’t pay $499 / £449 / AU$749 for a box that does practically the same thing as the PS5 they already own.”
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PRAEY FOR GODS RELEASE ‘IN LATE APRIL’
Praey for the Gods is aiming for release on PS5 and PS4 in late April.
It was announced in October last year with a 2021 launch, but nothing has yet been released.
The developers issued an update on their Kickstarter page which said it should launch in late April.
The update read: “The game is content complete, through certification on PS4/PS5/Xbox One as of this week. Woo!
“As for launch, we want to spend a little more time polishing to make sure it’s ready but it’s definitely close. Based on what’s left to do, we’re estimating for a mid/end April window and we’ll keep you posted on that.”
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USEFUL TIPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMMERS ONLINE
Follow these steps to protect yourself from hackers in the future:
- Make a ‘strong’ password with 8 or more characters and a combination of upper case characters, numbers and symbols
- Don’t do online banking on public WiFi, unless absolutely necessary
- Don’t click on dodgy email links claiming to be from banks
- Use different passwords for different sites
- Never re-use your main email password
- Use anti-virus software
- Don’t accept Facebook friend requests or LinkedIn invitations from people you don’t know
- Think before you put personal info on social media
- Find My iPhone, Android Lost and BlackBerry Protect all allow you to remotely wipe a stolen phone. Set this feature up
- Only shop online on secure sites
- Don’t store your card details on websites
- Password protect your phone and other devices
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WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE PS5?
Sony says with the PlayStation 5 “play has no limits” and it “rewrites the rules of gaming”.
It adds: “Experience lightning-fast loading, ultra-high speed SSD, ray tracing, haptic feedback, and breath taking immersion on the PS5.
“Push the boundaries of play, marvel at graphics and be stunned by the next-gen features.”
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GAME RESTOCK ‘TOMORROW MORNING’
More people are claiming GAME will restock PS5 consoles tomorrow morning.
PS5SupplyUK added to the rumours, tweeting: “GAME will most likely drop tomorrow given the fact that their previous drop days and times have been: Wednesday = 09:35am Wednesday = 09:45am.
“Tomorrow is a Wednesday so it’d make sense, based on predictions, for GAME to drop tomorrow instead of today.
“Keep an eye out!”
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NEW CONTROLLERS MAY YOU ‘FEEL’ GAMES
Sony has unveiled brand new virtual reality controllers for the PS5.
The new accessories are designed to work with Sony’s upcoming next-gen headset: the PSVR 2.
“Our new VR controller speaks to our mission of achieving a much deeper sense of presence and stronger feeling of immersion in VR experiences,” said PlayStation’s Hideaki Nishino.
“It will build upon the innovation we introduced with the DualSense wireless controller, which changed how games ‘feel’ on PS5 by unlocking a new way to tap into the sense of touch. Now we’re bringing that innovation to VR gaming.”
The controllers have an “orb” shape that works wirelessly – so no cables get in your way.
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TESCO SCAM WARNING
Tesco has warned shoppers of a new scam targeting PS5 customers.
It has warned that some enterprising tricksters are using the store’s branding to con buyers out of hundreds of pounds.
“We have been made aware of an unofficial pre-order site using the Tesco branding,” the retailer explained.
“This is in no way affiliated with Tesco or Active OnDemand. Please do not use these sites to pre-order a PS5 or Xbox.”
According to Tesco, the best way to avoid being scammed is to ignore any Tesco branding that isn’t on an official website or social media platform.
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GAME RESTOCK ‘TOMORROW’
Rumours circulated that GAME was going to drop a new load of PS5 consoles between 9am and 10am today.
There has been no sign of this on the website, and now Twitter is full of people claiming it will be tomorrow.
One person posted: “No drop from game today will be tomorrow like they did 2 weeks ago.”
Another said: “Since they have released stock always been around 930 to 945 and last time was Wednesday so its obvious.”
And one user tweeted: “I’m guessing this will not be today now as the last 3 drops have all been between 9.35 and 9.45.”
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DUTCH AMAZON RESTOCK SELLS OUT IN SECONDS
Amazon in The Netherlands restocked the PS5 console a few minutes ago.
But the drop sold out in less than 60 seconds.
Shoppers complained on Twitter that the consoles went “extremely fast”.
UK customers would need to pay extra delivery costs and buy a UK adapter.
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TIPS FOR SECURING CONSOLE THROUGH GAME
A PS5 stock tracker has offered some tips for people hoping to score a console in GAME’s next drop.
PS5UKStock tweeted: “Tips for GAME: Disc and Digital will drop soon.
“Go direct to bundles for the quickest way through, but you have to be fast to click a bundle.
“Find the bundles you want and memorise them. Go for obscure bundle for better chance.”
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FREE HORIZON ZERO DAWN GAME
On April 19, gamers will be able to get the Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition game for free.
It will be available to claim right through until May 14.
Horizon Zero Dawn came out in 2017, and quickly became one of the most beloved PlayStation games of all time.
To claim it, simply head to the store pages on the PlayStation Store.
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‘20,000 PS5 CONSOLES HITTING UK THIS WEEK’
A stock tracker has claimed a huge PS5 restock is coming to the UK later this week.
The drop is expected to have 20,000 units, with 58.2% units being the disc version, and 41.8% is digital.
So hopefuls can expect 11,640 full PS5 consoles and 8,360 digital PS5s.
PS5Instant tweeted: “GAME confirmed they’re releasing stock this week 9-11am. 20k units – 58.2% Disc and 41.8% Digital this time around.
“Argos aims to release end of this week, however good chance they’ll miss and release early next week.”
