PlayStation Portal scalping begins as Sony tells players it’s sold out

PlayStation Direct asks customers to “check back” at a later date for stock

Scalpers have started selling the PlayStation Portal for inflated prices, due to the gadget selling out at launch.

Sony‘s new device, which lets players stream their PS5 games using Remote Play, was released on Wednesday in the UK, US, Japan, Canada and select European countries.

However, the $199.99 / €219.99 / £199.99 handheld is now no longer available to order on the PlayStation Direct store, with Sony advising customers to come back at a later date.

The UK PlayStation Direct site has a message reading: “Not in stock? We’re working hard to make more stock available. Please check back on Wednesday 22nd November.”

Meanwhile, the US PlayStation Direct site says: “Not in stock? Please check back early December for more details on stock availability.”

It’s not clear how much initial stock Sony had, and whether it may have anticipated less demand than the product has received due to its more niche appeal.

The shortage has inevitably led to scalpers selling the Portal for higher than the device’s asking price on sites like eBay, with most so far adding around 50% to the cost.

A Buy-It-Now listing at £290 on eBay UK sold almost instantly, while active auction listings currently have bids of up to £285. More ambitious listings are attemtping to sell the device for £400, with one listing trying to sell four of them for £1,325.

The picture on the US eBay site is similar. One seller had 11 Portals and was selling them for $310 each – at the time of writing, only one remained.

Other listings appear to be attempting to sell the system for around $330.

PlayStation Portal is solely a Remote Play device and will not provide access to cloud streaming of games on PlayStation Plus Premium. As such, players will need to own PS5 hardware for the PlayStation Portal to work as intended.

VGC’s PlayStation Portal review says the device is “a slick solution for portable players”, but that its usefulness depends on a niche set of circumstances.

“Your mileage will vary,” we wrote, “but if you find yourself with your gaming time interrupted because of a monopolised TV, then the PlayStation Portal could be the reason you burn through your backlog faster than you thought.”