PS5 stock and Xbox Series X availability shows encouraging signs of life before Christmas

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Don't give us quite yet, we're expecting a very late push from some stores for the new PS5 and Xbox Series X

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(Image credit: Sony / Microsoft)
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Update: Chances of buying a PS5 or Xbox Series X this week were looking super low, but things were pretty good yesterday (don't forget the bar is pretty low for 'pretty good' for finding any console stock right now).

Yesterday, as advertised in advance, Best Buy managed to get in stock for the PS5 and Series X early in the day and that of course caused the site to crash a few times before stock was snapped up. However, Walmart then came out of the blue in the afternoon with a few waves of the PS5, PS5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X, and Series S. As there wasn't much pre-warning, they actually remaining online for quite some time, especially as Walmart seemed to drip-fed units onto the site, so some patient shoppers were able to get one. Of course, they're all gone now, but we'd advise checking the list of retailers below as often as you can to see if you get lucky with random stock replenishments. Amazon has been quiet so far this week, so we really think it's the most likely store to go live next.

Original story follows (December 15)...

This is not a drill, we're getting what may well be the final chance to buy a PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S before Christmas. US retailer Best Buy has confirmed that 'sometime after 8am CT' today that the PS5, PS5 Digital Edition, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S will be available to buy online. You'll want to get ready via these links.

That 'sometime after 8am CT' message is irritatingly vague for sure and stock is likely to go so fast that you might well be left wondering if it's even appeared yet once we're past that time. With any luck though, Best Buy will update the listing pages to reflect that stock has indeed gone. Naturally, it'll be hoping people do a bit of shopping on other items while they wait and you might be able to find something as the store is kicking off a wider 3-day sale today too.

You'll want to be ready though as we basically expect demand to be so huge on both of these consoles that the site is going to crash under pressure. We've seen it time after time this year as we've been updating our guides on where to buy a PS5 and where to buy an Xbox Series X for months now and are well used to seeing sites fall over when they've advertised stock coming in advance.

Get ready in advance by creating a Best Buy customer account if you don't already have one, and getting yourself signed in along with already having your bank card details added to the site beforehand too. Basically, you want to avoid as many loading screens, or time-wasting elements if you're lucky enough to get a PS5 or Xbox Series X into your basket. Keep checking you're actually still signed in too as we've been logged out sometimes when a website crashes.

Getting one in your basket does not mean you're guaranteed to be able to complete the purchase as it does with most items you'd shop for casually. It might sound dramatic and like a hot mess and that's because it is. Chances are, you've been trying to bag one for months and we don't have to convince you of what a shambles it's going to be once stock goes live again.

While we've seen brief glimpses of both the PS5 and Series X over the last few months, the cheaper models of the PS5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series S haven't really shown up as it would seem that not as many units of these are being produced - the full-fat models are clearly what most early adopters are going for. Either way, we expect everything to be gone within minutes once Best Buy puts them online. Good luck!

More PS5 and Xbox Series X retailers

We've rounded up a wide range of other US and UK retailers we'd advise you keep double-checking to see if any more PS5 stock or Xbox Series X units turn up too. Check them out below:

If you're looking for some other ideas of what to buy someone for Christmas, be sure to take a look at our best gifts for gamers feature.

Brendan Griffiths
Brendan Griffiths
Former GamesRadar+ Staff

Brendan is GamesRadar's former Managing Editor of the Hardware & eCommerce team. He also spent time as the Deals Editor at our sister site, TechRadar. He's obsessed with finding the best tech, games, gadgets, and hardware at the lowest price. He also spends way too much of his free time trying to decide what new things to watch on Netflix, then just rewatches It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia instead. Nowadays you'll find him as the eCommerce Content Director for Future's mobile tech sites, Android Central, iMore, and Windows Central.