PS4 could face four months of shortages

The PlayStation UK team is in crucial talks to secure more PS4 consoles, after admitting it had underestimated how popular it would be.

Sources close to the platform holder have told MCV that the current number of units expected in the UK is unlikely to satisfy demand. The machine could be in short supply for up to four months after launch.

Pre-orders have already surpassed the firm’s original predictions, and the company has had to turn off day one orders in an effort not to disappoint any eager gamers still wanting to get a machine on launch.

But Sony is worried that if potential customers cannot buy a PS4, then they may choose Xbox One instead.

The UK team is under pressure to wrestle back market share from Xbox. Although PlayStation 3 is the No.1 console in many European territories, in the UK it is Xbox 360 that holds a big lead.

SCE Europe boss Jim Ryan even told MCV this year that PlayStation has to do better” in the UK.

We are right in the throes of discussing which territories every last unit goes,” PlayStation UK chief Fergal Gara told MCV at Gamescom. We have a very, very ambitious plan with 32 countries in mind. And we are talking pre-orders levels that we have never seen before in our 20 years in this business. Any forecast that I provided a few months back are now redundant and far too small.

We are very excited. We are very pleased to see such a shift towards PlayStation. But we now need to think about the gamer, our retail partners and manage those expectations as much as possible.

It is pretty inevitable that demand will outstrip supply. It’s a good problem to have, but also a tricky one.”