Can I collect my PS5 during lockdown? GAME and Argos updates
New restrictions have thrown a spanner in the works.
Halloween was a day of thrills, scares, terrifying movies and an abundance of sweet eating. It was also the day that we found out that England was heading back into a national lockdown this coming Thursday - we definitely won't have any problems remembering the 5th November this year.
Many things are now up in the air as a result of Saturday's announcement but for gaming fans, all eyes are now on the next-generation consoles that are both scheduled for release in that lockdown period.
For those that were lucky enough to secure a PS5 pre-order online, things should go unchanged. All orders should be delivered as they were always going to be on 19th November without you having to do anything different. But those who went to a store to pre-order had good reason to be concerned with all non-essential shops being forced to close.
For more on the PS5, we have all you need to know about upcoming PS5 games and games that are backwards compatible on PS5.
Can I collect my PS5 in lockdown?
Here is all we know so far about what the situation is for collecting the consoles if you planned to head to a store to collect the console on launch day.
GAME
It would appear that GAME has found a workaround to the problem of non-essential stores not being allowed to open - it could well be the click and collect loophole will allow customers to still collect their consoles on launch day.
Smyths have done something similar in the past and it seems, judging from tweets that local stores have been putting out, that this will be the case.
While this statement only mentions those still wanting to pre-order (which carries the assumption that they will have more stock on release day), we understand that customers who have already pre-ordered are being contacted to pay for the console now and then collect it on 19th November. This gets around them putting any sales through on the day itself, which they would not be allowed to do, and still allows everyone to pick the PS5 up on launch day.
Argos
The same too applies to Argos which, fortunately, has had click and collect in place long before lockdown made it a necessity - it helps too that many Argos stores have been moved into locations with Sainsbury's which is considered essential and will remain open.
Argos has been replying to people on Twitter to reassure them that collections and deliveries will still go ahead as planned.
So, for now, at least, it would appear that the majority of people who were worried they may miss out on playing the PlayStation 5 on day one can breathe a little easier. We will keep tabs on the situation and let you know if anything changes.
The same also seems to apply to the Xbox Series X which is due to be released next week on November 10th.
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