Sony Direct PS5 restock queue: invite email guide
Sony Direct PS5 restock queue: invite email guide
Want a Sony Direct invite from email@email.playstation.com? Here's how to get the next the Sony PlayStation Direct store
Update: The official Sony Direct PS5 restock queue happened three times this week, meaning we could see the PlayStation 5 console in stock today, July 29. You should keep your notifications on for my PS5 restock Twitter tracker.
🚨 My PS5 restock Twitter tracker – follow and turn on notifications
⬇️ Get the email invite below (directions to improve your chances)
➕ PlayStation Plus discount code – PS+ Sony Direct improves shipping times
If you sign up for a Sony Direct email invite, the email@email.playstation.com address will be the sender (so many people doubt it’s real – but it is. And if you found this helpful, please sign-up below). Here’s how to get instant PS Direct alerts.
Directions to get the PS5 restock email invite
1️⃣ Get Sony Direct PS5 restock Twitter tracker alerts from Matt Swider
🔔 Follow and turn on notifications for immediate alerts
2️⃣ Sign up for The Shortcut hints and guides I send
📧 I send emails when I know it’ll be in stock in advance
✅ Subscribers get early PS5 info, prices and inventory numbers
✅ Full access to the site and guides that took me hours (days, actually) to write
✅ You can always ask me tech questions 1:1
3️⃣ Check stores in the US
Amazon PS5 Disc – you can get Amazon PS5 restock invitations
Amazon PS5 Disc Horizon bundle – also get a PS5 invite here
Walmart PS5 Disc: the Walmart PS5 restock may happen early August
Target PS5 restock – daily at a few local stores (but must order it online)
Best Buy: last in stock during a Best Buy PS5 restock last week
GameStop PS5 bundles: still in stock at some stores in the US
What is a Sony Direct PS5 restock
Sony Direct is the official store of the PlayStation brand. It sells the PS5 for MSRP and ships quickly to subscribers of PS Plus (get the PlayStation Plus discount code for $15 off) and fairly quickly to everyone else without a membership.
There are always up to four PS5 consoles in stock during a PS5 restock at Sony Direct. You’ll have to decide between PS5 Disc vs PS5 Digital once you get through the Sony Direct queue, and now these systems have been joined by two PS5 Horizon bundles that cost $50 more than the non-game-included counterparts.
It’s important to note that the PS5 restock Horizon bundle stays in stock longer during every Sony Direct PS5 restock because of its $550 (and not everyone wants that game). If you’re struggling to buy the Sony console or if you’re late to the Sony Direct PS5 queue, this is the one to try first.
Along with the Walmart PS5 restock (expected in August 2022) and Amazon PS5 restock, these Sony emails may be your quickest source, so signing up is a good idea.
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 Target PS5 restock and Best Buy PS5 restock events simply because it’s easier to get the email invite, enter the Sony Direct PS5 queue, and buy it at MSRP without hassle.
The Sony Direct PS5 queue restock happens through exclusive invite emails twice a month on average, although Sony has picked up the pace with demand slowing. That may change again come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when demand is expected to rise again and games like God of War Ragnarok and PS5 updates to 1440p make the console even more desirable.
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 invite). 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 first two rounds of the July 2022 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 forces 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 for today, June 28, 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.
There’s extra benefit to signing up for the email invites. Sony will be using PlayStation Direct when the PSVR 2 pre-order date is announced. While the PSVR 2 games list is still being fleshed out, it seems as if Sony’s cutting-edge PS5 VR headset is going to be in demand whenever it does launch, so you’ll want a leg up for this tech.
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 price and Nintendo Switch OLED price drop. 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 260,000 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 no longer stack the PlayStation Plus membership (but you can buy multiple as these pre-paid codes don’t expire).
Two recommendations: turn off auto-renew on your current PS Plus account so that Sony doesn’t charge you $60 at the end of your membership. Use the codes right away (don’t let them sit) as soon as your PS Plus membership expires.
In addition to free, fast shipping from Sony Direct, PlayStation Plus benefits include online multiplayer and PS Plus free games every month as part of PS Plus Essential, and you can upgrade to Extra or Premium to tap into that PlayStation Plus Premium games list.
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.
Sony doesn’t discount the PS5 controller colors and the best PS5 games nearly as much as other retailers in the US. The same goes for the best SSD for PS5 and other PS5 accessories, all of which can be had for cheaper outside of the official PlayStation Direct store.
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 queue opens to all
Sony Direct queue sometimes opens up to the public, allowing PlayStation Network users to try to buy the PS5 console without a Sony Direct invite email, but that doesn’t always happen. In fact, Sony took a break for 100 days between public queues at one time. This may be because it has become too easy to game the virtual queue system. The good news is that in June 2022, the amount of Sony queues for everyone increased.
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: July 28, 2022
Do you have to sign up again after each PS Direct restock? I signed up months and months ago, I've never seen an invite. Do I need to keep re-registering after each drop?
I haven't received an invite since the january 25th restock and i believe over the summer prior to that :/