Panic has finally caught up on Playdate pre-orders after more than two years. The company said it achieved the milestone after “a lot of hard work and logistics,” and announced that a limited number of Playdates are currently available for purchase online.
To avoid the creation of a similar pre-order backlog, Panic will now notify the public when Playdates are in-stock and ready to ship. Customers can still order the console when it’s out of stock, but their order won’t ship until a new batch of hardware is ready and waiting.
Playdates are currently manufactured in Malaysia, but fans in the country have so far been unable to purchase the device. That’s finally about to change. Panic has announced it’s expanding its shipping options to include a plethora of additional countries including Malaysia.
The full list of new countries includes Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Panic first opened Playdate pre-orders in July 2021 and sold an initial batch of 20,000 consoles in just 20 minutes. The handheld beat expectations after topping 53,000 sales in its first year and has now sold and shipped over 70,000 units worldwide.
Related:Panic says it’s time for Playdate developers to take center stage