PlayStation's Relationship with Amazon Worsens As PSN Codes Are Dropped

I demand answers

What the hell?

OK, now this I find really interesting. Running out of digital codes isn't the same as physical stock.

Has anybody seen this happen anywhere else? I would hate for Sony to change to some stupid PSN currency where $20 buys you 1,200 points. aaargh I hate when companies do that.

GoW is out of stock again too, but no word on my preorder from Sunday being canceled or delayed, yet.

I wonder what the reason is. I imagine that PlayStation related items are a big part of their revenue (the gaming section at least). They won't be dropping it for no apparent reason.

Sony wants us all digital I guess. No cuts for retailers. That much is obvious.

But this is...interesting.
Just had a look, no upcoming PS4 exclusives are available it seems. Not Days Gone, The Last of Us, Spider-Man....the hell.

Just to add - 1, 3 and 12 month PS+ digital codes are also unavailable. But 1 and 3 month PS NOW codes are.

Maybe it has something to do with PS Vue and Amazon Prime and Fire TV? All of these companies seem to be stepping all over each others toes these days with streaming tv, Amazon and Google, Amazon and DirecTV. Could be related.

Kratos will get all the amazons on god of war.anyways amazon suck.i do my shopping on ebay word the mother.word up son.Word

@get2sammyb Just did a little digging on Amazon UK

The God of War listing by PlayStation are unavailable, but there IS a much more EXPENSIVE listing from "Sony" that IS.

But just above that is the Collectors Edition also from "Sony" that isn't available. But Spider-Man isn't available from either.

I'm not sure what this is.

I actually like my local GameStop so I’ve been purchasing more games and getting used ones from there and trading in as well.

@get2sammyb I think the same but i dont think its a smart one. Good for the smaller retailer i never ever bought something at Amazon so nothing changes for me. This shows that companies getting to big never is a good thing.

The only reason I got amazon prime was because of the 20% off preorders and this is just annoying. Sort it out ASAP!!!

Scratch that @get2sammyb, the God of War Stone Mason/Collectors Editions are on Amazon US from Sony.

This is....what.

@get2sammyb "but we don't have PlayStation Vue in the UK"

Well there goes that theory debunked right quick.

Not cool. Luckily I went with GAME for my preorder. Got a confirmation text earlier in the day.

Something does seem to be going on behind the scenes. Question is: is it Amazon causing the trouble, or Sony?

If there is a dispute going on between the two companies, then in the end it's the customers that'll suffer.

Is it JUST Sony? Quick look shows physical copies of Monster Hunter World aren't being sold for either PS4 or Xbone right now. I would look for an Xbone exclusive game.. but.. well you know...

most pre-orders are available on amazon.ca... god of war is not, but death stranding, spiderman, days gone, detroit, etc are available for pre-order for canadians... also, when last of us first released on ps3, it was out of stock for a while due to demand. i know this does not explain the lack of digital codes, but it could explain why god of war is not available physically.

Surely Sony or Amazon need to make an announcement about this now. The silence is deafening

Sepeate matter but was on Amazon and for god of war...

I got an email at 2am to say payment had failed for my physical pre order of god war. Nothing is wrong with my details and I've literally just been paid last week. It just said they would try again and will let me know if it works.

All seems rather odd as I have never had this issue and I pre ordered the game a year ago. I also just got a non gaming parcel from them yesterday......

So I'm sat here wondering if I'm even getting a copy from them at the moment.

@Spectra amazon is THE source for almost everything these days for MOST people. gow not being available on the site is a big problem and could result in poorer than normal sales for sony. also, there are not many sites that can compete with amazon's pricing most of the time so not sure which ones you are referring to.

Damn this is horrible I do not live in the US so I relied on amazon vouchers to buy all my games

Amazoff

_{Let's not go there please. Thanks for understanding -TASUKI-}

"Alexa, where's my copy of God Of War?"

"It's on a bonfire with all the other copies. Soon your precious Sony will be no more!"

"Sorry Alexa, what did you say?"

"I said it's being prepared for shipping."

Yeah, something's definitely been going on with Amazon for a while. The Amazon prime benefits have been getting more and more restrictive as time goes on. It started as discounts on all games, then it shifted to pre-orders only, then it started excluded collectors editions, now for a while, they stopped carrying retail copies of games, including EA and Ubisoft for a while, not just Sony. I've got a God of War pre-order with the discount with them, and I'm rather concerned. I also pre-ordered Spiderman there, and it came with the discount, and that's already not available on Amazon either. So something's definitely up. I'm very close to just pivoting to Best Buy for game stuff now.

@Tasuki Dare I ask what I missed, I dont have email notifications XD

Anyway yeah, Im just going digital. Amazon has been late or unavailable for me for ages now.

Weird. Amazon didn't stock Nintendo hardware for a long time. Wonder what's going on...?

@Tasuki Shame though not allowing people to speak their minds.

@NathanUC You savage!

@DualWielding Ditto. I took to getting smaller games on Amazon like a fly takes to horse $h... Games are too expensive here.

If I'm working at Sony I'd want to get this fixed now. Regardless of what anybody here thinks of Amazon, they're THE place people go to buy things and it's bad optics for Sony in the long run more than Amazon. Myself? I've been making my video games purchases, online and in-store, at Best Buy since joining its Gamer's Club program. Surprisingly the online purchasing process from Best Buy is as trouble free as it had been when I did buy physical items from Amazon.

I like some of the deals Amazon offers and I usually import games from them but customer service representatives can be pretty bad at times. Not to mention, they're system can be pretty wonky at times, even more so during the start of this year.

@NathanUC MHW probably sold out because it was quite cheap ($44) the last time I checked.

France, Spain, Italy are ok.

I pre-order God of war from Amazon UK, and I received an email saying it's been posted and will arrive Friday. Fingers crossed.

@Porco Just every Dutch site though. 😁 😋

@BensonUii
Very slick move! That'll teach Sony to pay to keep Monster Hunter World off the Switch!

Dang, that’s no good. I’m a GameStop person so I’m pretty unaffected, but that stinks for those that are Amazon people.

That sucks. I get all of my PSN credit via Amazon.

Oh well. Just means I'll be spending less on Playstation stuff.

If Amazon keeps on getting worse, though, I might have to eventually suck it up and transition over to Best Buy.

Oddly enough I checked Amazon Prime Now, and they're selling a LOT more titles than usual. Looks like they may be offloading stock, as the range of titles they usually have only tends to cover big new releases and the odd title they're getting rid of cheap.

i've never bought a game from amazon, honestly i think it's not one of the better options if you live in the uk, at least not for new releases or psn codes.

there's probably some contractual or financial dispute between the two companies which is unlikely to be played out in public. PSN codes need to be authenticated, it's nothing to do with whether they can go out of stock or not.

@VR_Gamer Ding Ding

I can't tell you how many PSN email codes I have bought off Amazon but it's a heck of a lot. O well, I guess my money will go elsewhere.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest far better retailers out there than Amazon who are cheaper and preorders turn up early ( base, simply games, 365, game collection) dont know why people still use Amazon for games as 90% of the time more expensive.

Don't worry guys there's always sclapers ready on amazon to sell you the same thing for an extra $40!

@Tasuki Telling someone that their statements are stupid most of the time which is true is simple yet effective way to tell them that they are wrong or have no idea what they are talking about.

@Porco

Must be different n Canada than here in the UK where me and the other poster are from, nearly all games i have bought have been a good bit cheaper than Amazon from the retailers listed in my other post.

Maybe they feel sorry for the Xbox brand

My God of War has been dispatched from Amazon UK. So atleast stock is making it through.

@DLB3 Mine showed as dispatched earlier today so hopefully preorderd prior to whatever this problem is will be honoured

@Hapuc @Tasuki If I may interject:

It's fine to disagree with any of my opinions. That's the entire nature of a comment section right?

If I state falsehoods, by all means, respectfully correct me. I am always open to constructive criticism or corrections on things if they are respectful.

Now, to dismiss my earlier points, is a little less....good? I don't know how to word this.

2 of my earlier posts in this thread were simply additions to what is and isn't available on Amazon right now, because as the article states we don't know the full extent of this sweep and it seems inconsistent. More information leads to a more concrete plausible answer. That's just me doing my bit.

My most recent post before this one at least, was simply stating that because of Amazon being pretty bad with delivery lately, I've moved all digital.

My first point, presumably the one you felt the need to in some colourful form (According to the lovely list of citations @Tasuki gave you) disagree with and dismiss as "Stupid" or "Wrong" and that I "have no idea what [I am] talking about"....was simply an observation.

It's not a particularly far reaching or incorrect one either, as both this site, many of us in the forums, people across the internet have noted that yes, digital sales have overtaken physical sales. Third parties are reporting record revenues from digital sales now comfortably beginning to surpass physical sales. Have you seen the revenue the PSN brings in? Do we need to bring up Game Pass?

The observation that yes, Sony will want an all digital future for their platforms is not absurd. Microsoft is already moving heavily in that direction to make Xbox a platform. Sony has streaming services like Vue and Now, and just like the movie industry, TV, music, gaming will one day be all digital, or all streamed in the far flung future when infrastructure catches up.

Now, I didn't see your original post, but judging by the speed at which Tasuki has seemingly quite rightfully wiped it out, and the rules displayed above in a post, I am thankful for that swift moderation.

Now, on to the next topic. I may disagree with a lot of users here. My tastes in games may be different from the next man, but such is life. I may not be as invested in the PS4 as you or anyone else here. I was late to the party so to speak, and I will get things wrong about the brand, some IP, or games. That WILL happen.

As I engross myself in the ecosystem more, finding what I like, don't like, taking recommendations from people like Tasuki, or just shooting the breeze with them, we find common ground, we talk about our experiences on other systems, we share game experiences, we offer recommendations, what we want in the future, what could be better.

It is a discussion and different opinions, points of view or people from different gaming backgrounds will show up and join in as is to be encouraged I feel.

You however, seem to quite enjoy my posts. I don't know nor care for why, but if I so much as breathe in the general direction of this site, there you, or someone similar in mindset, are - just waiting, and then pounce: "no, you're wrong, stupid, and I'm going to make sure you know in a way that probably isn't suitable for this site."

As I said above, if you disagree, by all means be respectful and partake in the discussion. I feel as though you would not expect less from me, as I certainly don't from anyone I ever engage with in discussions.

I feel as though Tasuki has made the right call. All I know is you replied to me in a manner that got attention. I may lack the context but your later replies in disputing this moderation move tells me more than that original message would.

Thank you for your concern about my intelligence, or whether I am spouting inaccurate information or whether I even belong on this site. However, I feel as though your actions are purely malicious in intent, given your repeated replies to me, and now to a moderator who has told you that you were out of line.

This is the end of the matter as far as I care. Thank you @Tasuki for doing what you do man.

@get2sammyb Looks like PSN codes are back in the UK too

@get2sammyb Thanks for updating the article.

You think this is all just a coincidence, or maybe Amazon is flexing it's 100 million muscle?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-2018-shareholder-letter.html

You can't buy a new vita on Amazon uk.

I wanted to order from amazon and make use of my prime account but ended up ordering through shopto because at least I know I will be playing it on release day and hate giving GAME my cash

It's a conspiracy! Microsoft and Nintendo paid Amazon to run out of stock

Seriously though, I pre-ordered from Amazon in February, it better be on my doorstep after work on Friday!

This is an act of war, PS nation will not forgive this act of betrayal. Sony Defence Force is ready to engage.

Seems like a f*** up on Amazon's part. Thank God I just buy my digital games straight from the PS Store (why wasn't this most people's first choice?)

@CK97 because it's usually £10 or more than buying a physical copy? That's my reasoning anyway.

PSN codes are available now on Amazon UK. Exclusives aren't. I reckon it's a supply issue for games, and the codes were a glitch.

@Tasuki: Edit ~ Sorry I got a little irked, but you really should lighten up a bit. Sorry for the angry comment though...

@CK97

Because the digital is £15 more than the physical copy I have ordered.

In a few weeks I’ll have finished the game, even if I only sell it for £20... means I’ve saved £35 overall...

That’s a night out! lol

Very odd, on amazon.de everything is available, even MLB The Show 18.

When I first bought my Pro I got FFXV and The Last Guardian through Amazon, but now I'm Digital all the way. I collect hardcover books and comics so to have movies/t.v and games digitally will save me from worrying about space!

@get2sammyb
I agree. Amazon up to their dirty tricks.

They probably ran out of pre-registered codes and more have to be made, so Amazon and Sony have to figure it out. For licensed products these codes aren't just created upon purchase, they have to be registered first.

You just learned something about ecommerce and monetization!

yeah something is going on here and the only thing i can think of is a distribution issue, just like with happened between Amazon and Manga UK for a while you couldn't order any MangaUK products on Amazon because they couldn't distribute them to Amazons main distribution center

@FullbringIchigo That would make sense for games that are out already or about to be released, but not so much for games like Spider-Man that are released much later in the year.

I reckon there is some kind beef between Amazon and Sony.

@JohnnyShoulder perhaps but if for some reason they are unable to get games to them then they would also list future games as unavailable because right now they wouldn't know if they would be able to sell them especially if they don't know how long this is going to go on for

@get2sammyb just thought i would let you know, now God of War has been released you can buy it on Amazon and from Amazon themselves so for some reason you just can't pre-order

that's very strange

Amazon reminds me of when Walmart first came into play...take over other stores (which it's kind of doing) and then it has people by their necks to only go through them.

Anyways, I usually never get games through Amazon, many seem too expensive, and I don't like having to pay for Prime. It's a shame that people are having this problem though, but maybe it's licensing rights that Sony and other game companies are stopping. Even as I look on Amazon at times, it seems even movies are lost or too high on there too...or maybe Amazon is too worried about selling their grocery store items now instead of games????!!!!!!!