Shortage of PlayStation 5 disc drives frustrates fans

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Summary

  • The PS5 disc drive shortage has continued since the launch of the PS5 Pro, with scalpers driving up prices.

  • Drives are still sold out at both PS Direct stores in the US and UK, and stock continues to disappear as it arrives.

  • Sony has not yet commented on the defect.

The recent lack of separate PlayStation 5 Sales of CD drives are still ongoing, much to the frustration of fans trying to get one for their PS5 Pro. Sony released an attachable PS5 disc drive as a peripheral for its digital-only PlayStation 5 offerings in 2023, but it later found new use following the unveiling and release of the PlayStation 5 Pro in 2024. This updated version of the PS5 is only available without a physical drive, making the previous accessory a valued asset for gamers looking to upgrade their hardware without having to give up their games on the hard drive.

However, the resulting demand for the PS5 disc drive has led to a shortage of the product since the launch of the PS5 Pro in November 2024, with PlayStation's in-house PS Direct website struggling to maintain supplies. In territories like the UK, scalpers have snapped up the PS5 drives and resold them at inflated prices, in a situation similar to the release of the base PlayStation 5 in 2020. The high prices of these resold PS5 disc drives are giving gamers looking to get one a headache, as the PS5 Pro consoles they buy to complement them are already quite expensive.

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It doesn't look like the situation will be improving anytime soon, as PlayStation Lifestyle reports that the PS5 disc drive shortage is still ongoing at the time of writing. Both the US and UK PS Direct stores are still out of drives and stock continues to disappear as it arrives. Some third-party retailers like Best Buy and Target have made PS5 disc drives available to the lucky few who managed to appear in their stores in time for the random stock drop, but this is still dwarfed by the amount of gamers who are still don't have one.

The PS5 disc drive shortage continues

As previously mentioned, scalpers quickly recognized the growing demand for the PS5 disc drive as a complement to the disc drive-less PS5 Pro and apparently opted to stockpile the drive itself rather than the console it was supposed to support. Sony itself has not yet commented on the ongoing shortage, which many fans find strange given the company's efforts to maintain PS5 production during the height of the 2020 pandemic.

The lack of a built-in disc drive in the PS5 Pro has been a serious point of contention since the console was first revealed in September, with purchasing the standalone PS5 Slim Disc Drive already adding around $80 to the hefty price tag via first-party outlets Sony. As scalpers hoard these units and prices skyrocket as a result, many PlayStation 5 Fans currently have little choice but to wait for supply to increase and demand to decrease – something that doesn't appear to be happening any time soon.

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