Earlier today we reported that UK retailer Simply Games had been forcing people into upgrading their PlayStation 4 pre-orders if they wanted to get a unit at launch.
After a lot of digging, calling around various retail stores and a very confusing conversation. I finally found out the root of this and honestly, it’s quite upsetting.
According to a retailer who wished to remain anonymous, it seems Sony themselves are forcing the bundles upon retailers — at least in the UK. We’ve included his statement in full below:
“PlayStation 4 pre-ordered stock is no longer just the standard machine for everyone, around half the stock are now bundles which we have to push as a forced option on customers. So instead of having 100% as solus with the option to upgrade, its now 50% Solus and 50% forced/by choice upgrades for the customer.”
“So its a play by play case for us, luckily most of our customers who have got a bundle wanted the extra games anyway. Its just a bit shitty that if they don’t they actually don’t have a choice.”
For reference, “solus” means “alone,” or in this case, standalone units.
There you have it. So for those people blaming retailers for forcing you to buy bundles just to get a launch day PS4, now you know why.
In any case, seems like we owe Simply Games an apology.
We’ve emailed Sony for a response but have yet to hear back. We will, of course, update the story once they’ve replied with a statement.
http://pixelenemy.com/report-forced-ps4-bundles-by-retailers-mandated-by-sony/
Bad move Sony...
