Preorders for retro-inspired Playdate gaming console have opened

Preorders for upcoming $179 handhold gaming console Playdate, created by iOS and macOS developer Panic, have officially opened.

Customers can preorder Playdate consoles as of 10 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern) on Thursday, July 27. Consoles will cost $179, which includes the first season of 24 original games delivered weekly. Although game lengths vary, the catalog will range across a variety of genres.

The Playdate store is now open. https://t.co/CqQxx6o42l pic.twitter.com/rQjxW8byYD
— Playdate (@playdate) July 29, 2021

Announced in May 2019, Playdate attracted attention for its quirky, retro-inspired design. It features a 2.7-inch black-and-white display, a headphone jack, and a small crank that is used to control gameplay. Along with the retro touches, Playdate also includes modern features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality, as well as a USB-C port.

In addition to Panic's own first-party games, the developer is also going to release an SDK allowing third parties to create their own titles for the platform.

Panic is a macOS and iOS developer known for games such as Transmit and Coda.

8 Comments

blokey 2 comments · 10 Years

About 3 years ago

Its now sold out, and they locked out anyone ordering from the Uk by not including England as a country.

Facepalm.

Andrew_OSU 574 comments · 6 Years

blokey said:

Its now sold out, and they locked out anyone ordering from the Uk by not including England as a country.
Facepalm.

Dang, they went through those preorders fast… 20K units out of the gate.

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

blokey said:

Its now sold out, and they locked out anyone ordering from the Uk by not including England as a country.
Facepalm.

It's not sold out and you can ship to the UK.

Apparently there was an issue: https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1420797232253521924

ikir 130 comments · 17 Years

blokey said:

Its now sold out, and they locked out anyone ordering from the Uk by not including England as a country.
Facepalm.

Try again, it was a issue with server under overload.

crowley said:

blokey said:

Its now sold out, and they locked out anyone ordering from the Uk by not including England as a country.
Facepalm.

It's not sold out and you can ship to the UK.

Apparently there was an issue: https://twitter.com/playdate/status/1420797232253521924

Now it is sold out. Next units in 2022.