Update: The Sony Direct PS5 restock queue exclusive to those with an invite email has yet to happen in May 2022, and this is your in-depth guide on how to sign up for it and increase your chance to buy the PlayStation 5. It’s better than the Amazon PS5 restock and Target PS5 events simply because it’s easier to get the email invite, enter the Sony Direct PS5 queue and buy it at MSRP without hassle.

• 💿 Sony Direct: PS5 queue – wait for the invite email sign up

• 📦 Amazon: Amazon PS5 | PS5 Digital (sold-out April 19)

• 🛑 GameStop: In stores the weekend of April 23 (exclusive news)

• 🌟 Walmart: PS5 Disc | PS5 Digital (sold out of PS5 Disc on April 19)

The Sony Direct PS5 queue restock happens through exclusive invite emails twice a month on average and we haven’t seen one during May 2022.

This means you have time to sign up. The last Sony Direct PS5 restock sold out in 29 minutes, with both the $499 PS5 Disc and $399 PS5 Digital Edition in stock at 2pm ET (the usual time listed on the email inite). How do you get the Sony Direct email invite?

I’m here to explain how to get the next Sony Direct PS5 email invite since the April 20 Sony Direct PS5 restock invites are already out. Thankfully, it’s less complicated than it was at this time last year and easier to get than the Amazon PS5 restock, which is too popular for its own good.

Getting the PS5 is still not guaranteed even if you do receive the coveted PlayStation email. That said, the Sony Direct with its virtual queue system is your best chance to get the console at MSRP whereas every GameStop PS5 restock force you to buy it with a pricey bundle of PS5 games and accessories.

This is the way.

1. Register for the Sony Direct PS5 restock

To get the Sony Direct email invite, you’ll need to register with the official PlayStation website. This requires signing in with your PlayStation Network ID. You’ll need to know the username and password or, if you don’t have an account, create a PSN account. Luckily, creating a PSN account is free and easy to do. However, you won’t be able to get the Sony Direct email invite for April 20 as it’s too late to receive one today.

2. Click the Sony Direct PS5 sign-up button

Logging into your PlayStation Network account is only half of the battle to registering for the next Sony Direct PS5 restock. The Sony website replaces the blue “Sign-in” button with a similar blue button that says “Sign up” in the same spot. Don’t forget to do that as it’s easy to overlook.

You’ll see the message “Thank you for registering” in green text when successfully registered for a chance to get in on the next Sony Direct PS5 restock. That’s how you’ll know it worked.

3. Get Sony PS5 restock Twitter tracker alerts

The best way to know when a Sony Direct PS5 restock email goes out is to follow my PS5 restock Twitter tracker Matt Swider account and The Shortcut on Twitter. I send alerts the afternoon before a Sony Direct PS5 restock will happen.

Follow and turn on notifications – as I’ll also tell you about the next Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop PS5 and Target PS5 restock as well as any Xbox Series X restock. Doing this pushes a notification to your phone when the PS5 is in stock in the United States. I also tweet out gaming and tech deals.

So far, I’ve helped more than 216,000 people buy the PS5 through my PS5 restock Twitter tracker alerts. And every time I tweet about the Sony Direct restock, people tell me they wouldn’t have seen the email in their inbox without my alert.

4. Look out for the Sony Direct PS5 email invite

The PlayStation Direct invite email will be sent randomly to PSN users who registered using the official PlayStation website – see step 1. Sony has stated that it determines who gets picked for the PS5 restock email invites based on “previous interested and PlayStation activities.” If that sounds vague and unhelpful, it is.

Yes, the email from email@email.playstation.com is real

The PS5 restock invite will come via email from email@email.playstation.com, and it is indeed a real email from Sony. However, anything posing as a Sony Direct PS5 email invite using a Gmail address is fake. There are scams that have copied the format of the Sony Direct invite email to lure people into paying through wire transfer methods. Do not proceed with such transactions. The address email@email.playstation.com is legit and everything else is not.

5. Optional: sign up for PlayStation Plus

While this won’t increase your chances of getting the coveted Sony Direct PS5 invite, it will ensure that you get fast and with free shipping from Sony Direct restock site. It usually takes one or two days with a PlayStation Plus account, and a week otherwise.

You can get a PlayStation Plus discount code for $15 off the 12-month membership – Sony charges $60 for a year of PS Plus, while Eneba charges about $45. You can also stack the PlayStation Plus membership, too, meaning you can buy three codes and get three years’ worth of it and get those PS Plus free games every month and this counts toward the new PlayStation Plus Premium release date. Two recommendations: use the codes right away (don’t let them sit) and you don’t have wait until your prior membership expires. Here’s why you should use the codes right away: it’ll ensure that someone does guess or get issued your PlayStation Plus code through a glitch.

In addition to free, fast shipping from Sony Direct, PlayStation Plus benefits include online multiplayer and PlayStation Plus free games every month. Usually, Sony offers three or four games free of charge and you get to keep them if you’re paying for PS Plus, but only if you add them to your PlayStation games library before they go away (hence the incentive to get PS Plus now instead of waiting).

6. Sony Direct PS5 restock time

Final step: the Sony Direct PS5 invite will instruct you to click the “Access event” button in the email at 11am PT (which is 2pm ET) on a specific date. Usually, emails arrive in inboxes in the late afternoon the day before a PS5 restock, so you don’t have much time to notice that you got the Sony Direct email invite, unfortunately.

Confusingly, Sony’s email invite always says the date and the restock time of “11:00 - 16:00 PT (14:00 - 19:00 ET) or while supplies last.” What you should do is click this button just before 11am PT / 2pm ET, the actual restock time. You won’t get penalized by arriving a few minutes early. Dont’wait for the tail end of the time window, as the Sony Direct PS5 restock will be sold out by then.

7. Can you share the Sony Direct PS5 invite?

Sony says the “Access event” button in the PlayStation Direct invite is a unique link. This means it’s tied to your PSN account and the email can’t be forwarded to friends and family. You’ll be able to buy the PS5 console restock for friends and sell it to them, but it has to be bought using your PSN account. Full stop.

Your address must be within the United States for the US Sony PlayStation Direct restock. Separate Sony Direct PS5 restock queues have opened in other countries, but the store that you just registered for in step 1 is limited to US addresses.

8. PS5 deals at Sony Direct aren’t great

You don’t have to buy games, PS5 controllers and other accessories from Sony PlayStation Direct. And Sony charges full price for these items compared to deals I’ve been able to surface on my Matt Swider Twitter account and more frequently on The Shortcut Twitter account and from Best Buy, Walmart, GameStop and Amazon. If you’re about to spend $499 on a PS5 Disc console or $399 on PS5 Digital Edition, don’t pay extra for games and accessories when you don’t have to.

9. Keep trying for the PS5 with Sony Direct

Finally, Sony is still using a PS5 restock virtual queue system, meaning it’s still randomized once you log into the “event.” If it does sell out of consoles, some people have been able to try again at a different time using that email.

But you need to know the time – you won’t get another follow-up email if you skip your day. You’ll have to be randomly picked again. Just watch out for my PS5 restock Twitter alerts to know when the next Sony PS5 reck time is.

10. Sony Direct PS5 public queue is rare

Sony used to do a public queue, allowing PlayStation Network users to try for the console without a Sony Direct invite, but that hasn’t happened since March 24 and before that in over 100 days. This may be because it has become too easy to game the virtual queue system.

Stay tuned for more updates for the next PS5 restock, especially because Sony Direct usually does two restocks with the invite email per month.

Updated: May 8, 2022