Hot on the heels of Sony’s PlayStation 5 pricing and preorder reveals, Microsoft has shared more precise timing info for its own preorder plans. The company shared launch (Nov. 10) and preorder (Sept. 22) dates for its Xbox Series X and Series S consoles during an online presentation last week, but it’s followed up this week with exact timing info. Several gaming outlets have reported today that Xbox preorders will open up at 11am ET/8am PT on Sept. 22nd for a wide range of retailers.
Sony’s preorders began this week, however messaging and overall rollout has led to confusion among would-be purchasers. Following its online showcase event on Sept. 16th, Sony sent out a tweet stating that preorders for the $499 PlayStation 5 and the $399 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (which lacks a disc drive), would start the following day, on Sept. 17th. However, reports of preorders opening up early started pouring into various social media services on the 16th and retailers like Target, Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and Amazon all began accepting orders earlier than Sony initially indicated. Some retailers seemed to struggle with the sudden demand, and several customers claimed they were stuck in stalled checkout processes for extended amounts of time yesterday.
Later in the day, Microsoft’s Xbox team had a bit of fun at their rival’s expense:
In any case, the build up to the next generation of gaming consoles (that should also double as capable streaming devices) is well underway and we’re hoping to get our hands on some hardware close to launch — you know, for research purposes.