Xbox Series X pre-order delays: Amazon promises to make it in time for Christmas

It's Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S launch day today, and while some customers who placed pre-orders have been lucky enough to get their consoles early, some of you are going to in for a more festive surprise. 

Amazon has been contacting Xbox Series X pre-order customers with the news that they might not get their consoles today after all – or even this week. As it stands, some of you may be looking at a delivery date around Christmas.    

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One customer tweeted out an email they received from Amazon US advising that they'll be getting their Xbox Series X by December 31 at the latest, giving the online retailer a generous window to deliver to goods. In this instance, the pre-order was placed as soon they went live, on September 22.

The issue seems to be that Amazon simply doesn't have enough inventory to fulfil its orders. The email states that the website will ship the console "in the coming weeks" as it gets in "more inventory in November and December".

Amazon confirmed this to another customer on Twitter citing a "high demand"  which hasn't gone down well at all, understandably. 

The thread is full of angry users saying they would have placed their pre-order elsewhere had they known that how Amazon was going to go about dealing with its pre-order customers, and expressing frustration that pre-orders were sold with a promised launch day delivery that it can't meet.

Meanwhile, Walmart appears to be struggling to fulfil PS5 pre-orders, although the situation is less dire going by the email shared on Twitter which says the console will be shipping "a day or two later than expected."

We can at least hope that gamers get their consoles by Christmas as Microsoft and Sony scramble to get more systems made, but be warned! Xbox boss Phil Spencer has already said the demand for the next-gen hardware has outstripped supply, and that there will be "months" of shortages. Sony's Jim Ryan has said the same about the PS5, so whether you've pre-ordered or not, you might be in for a long wait.

Source: Metro