Pre-orders For The PS5 In The US Are High, But What About Southeast Asia?

UPDATE (11/11/2020) - Sony has announced the launch date and price for the standard edition of the PS5 for the Philippines and Malaysia.

The PlayStation 5 will debut in the US on November 12 and it already shows a significant demand for the next-generation console as pre-orders in the west are pilling up.

According to Reuters, “Sony has pre-sold as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours in the US in the first 12 weeks for its predecessor” says Jim Ryan, CEO at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

With the demand on a high “It may well be that not everybody who wants to buy a PS5 on launch day will be able to find one” says Ryan to Reuters.

Sales will likely be impressive for the next PlayStation console but the mere fact that Sony is already setting the expectation that it will be tough to get a unit makes the situation for those in Southeast Asia a bit more bleak, at least for those eager in getting their hands on a PS5 on day one. Let’s also not forget the fact that the world is currently facing a pandemic.

While those in the west are gauging the demain, most countries in Southeast Asia are still waiting for any news about the PS5 or when pre-orders will be available. November is already next week.

In a report by IGN, a delay on the PS5 launch could happen to select Southeast Asian counties. IGN noticed a slight change in the image found in the PS5 home page, which now shows the missing “Holiday 2020” text suggesting a possible delay in select Southeast Asian countries is imminent.

That’s not enough information to go by to state that a delay will happen but it’s unusual to have no details about how to pick up their next flagship console for certain countries this close to launch. But the more interesting part is only Singapore currently has pre-order details available for awhile now, complete with their own price point and everything, while countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines, remains silent.

MP1st reported that they reached out to Sony for a statement via email regarding the launch of the PS5 in Southeast Asia and replied:

“We can confirm that the PS5 will also become available in MY/TH/ID/PH/VN and that we are currently in the process of preparation towards the launch.”

“SIES will make announcement on MY/TH/PH/ID/VN release dates and pricing when we are ready. Please keep a lookout for our local announcements on PS5 release in respective countries.”

This doesn’t confirm that they will make the November 19 launch or if we would see it come out at the end of the year.

But the show must go on as in the Philippines, local retailers such as Datablitz have already begun marketing pre-order options for the PS4 versions of PS5 launch titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: a Big Adventure. This only further suggests that Sony is not ready to talk about the PS5 or pre-order details despite being this close to release date, and that we might just get a sudden announcement before the 19th. Will it be good or bad? Your guess is as good as mine.

So, in Southeast Asia, we are not breaking pre-order sales records anytime soon. Many are still in the position of whether or not we will get a chance to secure a unit before the end of the year.

The Southeast Asia departments at PlayStation is rather too quiet this close to launch, so it would be best to keep your expectations in check this season.

---