The Playstation 5 was first released to the public in November of 2020. And, since the first day, Sony has been unable to keep up with the demand for the systems.
Several factors have made it hard for customers to get their hands on the consoles. With the advance in technology, it takes quite a bit more time to make the system than previous generations.
Scalpers who buy consoles and sell them at a considerable markup have also been a significant issue. The problem has grown so severe that the government may step in. In December, the “Stopping Grinch Bots Act” was introduced, which would ban bots from buying video game consoles.
And, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the manufacturing of the systems. The pandemic has caused all kinds of problems both in regards to the supply chain as well as worker availability.
So with few ways to fix the PS5 problem, Sony will now rely on an old standby; the Playstation 4. According to Bloomberg, the company will ramp up production on the previous generation of consoles.
The report notes, “SIE (Sony Interactive Entertainment) is backtracking on its originally scheduled plan to bring PS4 production to a halt in early 2022, and will now continue to produce its might black box, with an estimated one million brand new PS4 consoles set to roll out of the manufacturer over the course of 2022.”
This is a solution that Sony has used in the past. When the PS4 first came out, the company had issues producing enough of those consoles to meet demand. So the Playstation 3 remained in production for much longer than expected.
