Earlier today, pre-orders officially opened for the GTA VI-themed PS5 DualSense controller. Due to the high volume of buyers, the Sony PlayStation Direct store was temporarily overwhelmed. Some people waited in line for an hour, while others were unable to complete checkout at all. Meanwhile, other retail sites like Best Buy seemed to handle the traffic surge much better.
On September 10, pre-orders opened for the previously announced GTA VI-themed DualSense controller. Both the black and white versions are priced at $85, featuring custom designs and pink accents that evoke memories of Vice City. Admittedly, these controllers look pretty cool. If you tried to pre-order today, you likely encountered quite a few issues.
While waiting to place my order at the PlayStation Direct store, I (a Kotaku reporter) was briefly kicked back to a cute error page featuring characters from Astro Bot, as shown in the screenshot above. Eventually, I managed to buy a GTA VI controller through Best Buy, but when I checked again just a minute later, it seemed to be already sold out. Wow, looks like there are quite a few people eager to get their hands on the $85 GTA VI-themed controller!
According to Wario64, as of 10:30 AM ET, GTA VI controllers were still in stock at Walmart and GameStop. However, it seems only the white version is currently available for purchase, and some users have reported encountering errors when trying to add the controller to their cart.
The GTA VI-themed PS5 controller was unveiled during Sony's latest State of Play livestream last week. The controller features color-shifting paint, embossed palm tree patterns on the grips, the GTA VI logo on the front touchpad, and a different style of GTA logo on the back.
GTA VI controllers already appearing on eBay at inflated prices
If you check eBay, you'll see a large number of pre-orders for the GTA VI DualSense controller being resold at inflated prices. It seems that whenever hot, in-demand items go up for pre-order, scalpers inevitably show up. They snap up as many pre-order slots as possible and then resell them to others for as much as $195. Some are asking for $150 or even $130. How "generous" of them.
Of course, one thing to note when seeing a sudden influx of such pre-order listings on eBay is that many of these outrageously priced items may never actually sell. Still, it's frustrating to repeatedly witness this cycle of frantic buying and price gouging every time a new game product or tech device goes up for pre-order.
