Walmart surprises customers with free PS5 upgrade

PS5
(Image credit: Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

If you managed to buy a PS5 Digital Edition on July 17 from Walmart, you may want to check your emails as the retailer appears to be offering customers a free upgrade to the full disc-drive equipped PS5. 

Francisco Gonzalez tweeted a image of an email he got from Walmart promising an incoming upgrade and apologizing for not having more of the Digital Edition console in stock.

"The PlayStation 5 is such a hot item we sold more of the exact version you ordered than we had on hand," the email to Gonzalez explained. "We thought you deserved an upgrade, so we’re sending a PS5 with a disc drive – no extra charge! Nothing else has changed and you'll still receive your order on time." 

The disc drive is the only functional difference between the two consoles, so this change doesn’t really make much difference to the affected customers. 

Walmart confirmed that there will be no delivery delays, and both versions of the PS5 play the exact same games in the exact same way. It just means they get the option of buying games on disc, instead of only being able to buy from the PlayStation Store.

It also means these customers got the more expensive PS5 console for $100 less than the $499 retail price.

If you are still hunting for a PS5, be sure to check our PS5 restock update page for all the latest news and updates around console stock drops, as well as some tips to help maximize your chances of getting hold of a shiny new PS5.

And since it’s Amazon Prime Day, we’re keeping an eye out for any Prime Day PS5 deals that may pop up over the next 48 hours. Be sure to keep checking back to see if anything does show up.

Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.