Panic Inc.’s crank-featuring 1-bit handheld, Playdate sold all 20,000 units committed for 2021 release – and it took just 20 minutes.
As reported by TechCrunch, Panic said that its shipping estimator accurately confirmed that 20,000 units of the handheld had sold in just under 20 minutes when they went up for pre-order on July 29. Orders after that point are still being accepted, but these are unlikely to reach customers until 2022.
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Playdate’s pre-order sales launch wasn’t without some technical issues. Panic acknowledged on Twitter that its online store was experiencing some difficulties at the time – especially in relation to international orders. Some international users experienced problems when trying to select their country for delivery, whilst other issues with stock tracking meant that for a brief period of time the handheld showed as sold out.
Following its technical issues, Panic said that it was trying to “figure out the best plan for international orders that got delayed due to failures” but that the company was “amazed at the response” by fans over this first wave of Playdate orders. Panic also said in another tweet that there was potential for a “2023 bucket” of orders to make its way to customers in the future, thought the company did reassure fans that it should take a while to get there.
⚠️ There was a slight issue with our stock tracking and Playdate may have temporarily shown as “Sold Out” — we’ve fixed that now! Anyone should be able to place an order — but you may need to put Playdate back in your cart.
Sweatin’ over here
— Playdate (@playdate) July 29, 2021
For those of you who haven’t followed the full Playdate story so far, the nifty little device utilizes a rotating crank which can be used to control different elements of its prebuilt games. IGN previewed the mini-handheld back in June before delving into a more hands-on experience earlier this month. For more from Panic, check out our Firewatch review where we ranked the Santo Campo developed game “among the best of the ‘walking simulators’ thanks to stellar writing, art direction, and voice acting.”
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Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.