With the release dates of the next gen Xbox consoles and PS5 now set in stone, pre-order periods for the machines are here. PS5 pre-orders went live last week with little to no notice, leading to a situation that was, to put it mildly, horrible mismanaged by Sony and retailers alike (following which Sony even issued an apology).
Microsoft, however, seem to be adamant to avoid a similar situation. After having confirmed at the beginning of the month that Xbox Series X and Series S pre-orders would go live on September 22, they recently gave the exact details on pre-order timings and retailers per various regions. In fact, it also seems like they may have measures in place to ensure that retailers don’t pull the trigger early like they did with the PS5.
According to Geoff Keighley on Twitter, Microsoft will be penalizing retailers who break pre-order embargoes for the Xbox Series X and Series S and open them up before they’re supposed to. They’ll be doing so be lower the allocations of both consoles to said retailers. Given Keighley’s place in the industry, this is pretty reliable information as well. Here’s hoping Xbox pre-orders go smoothly when they go live in a couple of days.
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will both be releasing worldwide on November 10.
I've heard that Xbox will be penalizing retailers by lowering allocations if they break these embargoes, so hopefully these times will hold.
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) September 18, 2020
