Pre-orders for the Grand Theft Auto 6-themed PS5 DualSense controllers went live on September 10, and demand was so high that Sony's PlayStation Direct store struggled to keep up. Some customers were stuck in an hour-long queue, while others were unable to complete checkout at all.
The controllers, first announced during Sony's recent State of Play, come in black and white variants priced at $85 each. They feature a Vice City-inspired pink color scheme, a custom pattern, color-shifting paint, embossed palm trees on the grips, and GTA 6 branding on the front touchpad and back of the gamepad.
While PlayStation Direct buckled, other retailers reportedly handled the demand better. Best Buy allowed successful purchases, though the site appeared to sell out shortly after. As of mid-morning, Walmart and GameStop reportedly still had stock, though seemingly only of the white variant, and some customers reported errors trying to add the controller to their cart.
Shortly after pre-orders opened, scalpers began listing the controllers on eBay at inflated prices, with some asking as much as $195, while others priced theirs at $150 or $130. It's noted that many of these marked-up listings often don't end up selling, a pattern that has repeated with other in-demand pre-order items in the past.