Update: The first PS5 restock at Sony Direct today was at 2pm EDT – if you had an email invite from the official store for the PlayStation 5 brand. There could be a second Sony Direct PS5 restock tonight.
If you didn’t get the email invite, step 1) follow our PS5 restock Twitter tracker Matt Swider for alerts – follow and turn on notifications. Step 2) sign up for our email alerts. Sony Direct is the online store that often (not always) opens up a second virtual queue for all registered PSN users at a later time. It didn’t happen at 5pm EDT, but the recent most popular time in the latter half of 2021 is 6pm EDT or 6:05pm EDT and we’re going to be closely watching to see if it happens at that time.
Matt Swider has helped 90,000 people buy a next-gen console via these alerts:
► Never buy from other Twitter users – ever. They’re all scams. Only buy from the US stores Matt alerts you about. No one will sell a PS5 for just $550.
Here’s a prime example of what these crucial PS5 restock alerts look like:
Sony Direct restock time today
There are two times to check for the Sony Direct PS5 restock today and one has already happened. It all depends on whether or not you have the email invite from the console maker.
If you got the email invite, the virtual queue started at exactly 2pm EDT / 11am PDT, according to the official email invite sent to hundreds of users. This is an exclusive PS5 restock, meaning your chances are much higher but you’re not guaranteed to be able to buy a console to checkout with it.
If you didn’t get the email invite, then look out for Matt Swider to tweet about a possible PS5 restock that’s open to everyone with an active PSN account. The time is less specific here, but in the latter half of 2021, it’s most recently happened between the times of 6pm EDT and 6:05am PDT. At that time, it starts with a waiting room before launching everyone into a virtual queue that lasts about 30 minutes before Sony Direct completely sells out.
How to get the Sony Direct email invite
Obviously, the easier restock time is 2pm EDT during the exclusive virtual queue. As we’ve reported on in the past, getting that coveted email invite is mostly about luck, as it’s sent randomly to registered PSN users.
However, as outlined if you sign up for Matt’s crucial restock newsletter emails in the past, you can also open yourself up to marketing emails from Sony by diving deep into your PSN account settings: Account Settings > Notifications > Check the first item regarding receiving special offers from Sony.
Sony Direct PS5 restock tips
The best strategy tips we have for a Sony Direct PS5 restock really depends on when you’re buying the console. If it’s during the earlier exclusive email invite virtual queue, you want to ensure you only have one web browser opened. That’s because you’re logging into your PSN account ahead of time.
However, if you don’t have the Sony Direct email invite, you’re going through the virtual queue first and, if picked, then logging in. So opening up Sony Direct on as many different browsers and devices as possible will only increase your chances.
One of the people to get it from Matt Swider’s Twitter alerts can be seen below:
Will Sony Direct be the only PS5 restock this week?
We did see a small Target PS5 restock this week, but it happened at a local level and the American retailer only waited for a week-and-a-half between PlayStation 5 drops. That means there wasn’t a lot of PS5 inventory and most stores in New York and New Jersey, for example, didn’t seem to have any consoles on hand.
There is a GameStop Halo Xbox Series restock tomorrow for a ‘super bundle’ at 11am EDT, but there’s no PS5 restock news for GameStop this week. Sony Direct is the only announced restock, and even then it’s guaranteed for people with the email invites only.
The PS5 restock situation won’t get better in 2021
We’ll continue to see PS5 restock in the US, but nearly impossible to get for a variety of reasons. At the core of the problem is a global chip shortage.
But it goes beyond that. Demand has risen for the semiconductors at the heart of these PS5 chips. So, every laptop work-from-home employees have needed in the last year-and-a-half and every new car with an increasing amount of silicon inside has affected Sony and even Apple (once thought to have escaped this problem).
Even when PS5 consoles do arrive in the US, they’re stuck in shipping vessels off-short, as customers needs to clear the contains at ports in Miami, Florida and Long, Beach, California.
Finally, stores – both online and in stores – have been plagued by resellers. People are using bots online and camping out just to sell the PS5 for profit. This is why you can’t find PS5 in stock – there are many factors that go into this headache.
