PS5: Walmart Reports That It Regularly Blocks Millions of Bot Requests

According to its own information, the US retailer Walmart blocks millions of bot inquiries at regular intervals to buy PS5 consoles. At the same time, it was assured that all orders due to bots will be canceled.

At the launch of the PlayStation 5, retailers and customers alike had to struggle with the problem that reseller and scalper groups scoured the available PS5 contingents using bots and bought up the coveted consoles.

As the US retailer Walmart confirmed in a recent statement, millions of requests from bots with which PS5 systems are to be purchased are regularly blocked. After the PS5 event on November 25, 2020, alone, the company registered more than 20 million bot requests in just 30 minutes. However, according to official figures, this is only a fraction of the inquiries that Walmart is faced with.

It goes on to say that Walmart is double-checking PS5 orders and is consistently canceling all orders that can be traced back to bots. “As an additional step, we also audit and quickly cancel any orders confirmed to be purchased by bots that may have slipped through. As a result, the vast majority of our next-gen consoles have been purchased by legitimate customers, which is exactly what we want,” said Walmart.

At the same time, the company assured that more PS5 consoles will be made available as soon as possible: “More next-gen consoles coming online soon, and we’re continuing to work hard to get them into the hands of as many customers as possible. We hope others across the retail industry will join us by asking lawmakers to do more to prevent these unwanted bots on retail sites, so customers have equal access to the products they want.”

Unfortunately, it was not revealed when further PS5 consoles will ultimately be delivered to the trade. However, Sony Interactive Entertainment assured a few weeks ago that “considerable quantities” of PS5 consoles will find their way onto the market before and after Christmas.

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