Whilst 2020 has been a depressing year no doubt, it has also accelerated interest in videogames and other digital hobbies that people can take part in from the confines of their home.
This high uptick in demand has led to an ugly situation of scalpers using bots to buy out limited stock of popular consoles and PC parts, leaving many without a console or even a new graphics card this Christmas.
The Playstation 5, Xbox Series X and the latest RTX 3XXX series of cards from Nvidia have been affected by this, with reportedly 1000s of these items being snatched by bots, which are then resold for a significant amount above their Recommended Retail Price. Playstation 5 alone is currently being sold for more than a thousand dollars/pounds on eBay.
It is a serious thing, and something that has caught the attention of certain members from the Scottish National Party, who are calling for the government to introduce legislation to prohibit the resale of gaming consoles and PC components at prices “greatly above Manufacturer’s Recommended Retail Price” (MRRP).
It’s still in its early motion with only 21 signatures so far, but we sincerely hope this legislation is passed and put into effect to discourage scalpers. At a time when the world is in crisis, it’s an absolutely selfish thing to be hoarding items like this whether entertainment or essentials.
As We Play 