UK retailer GAME has seemingly blocked multiple people on Twitter for reporting PS5 scalpers, as opposed to taking direct action towards the scalpers themselves.
The news comes from a Twitter account named UK PS5 And Xbox Series X/S Stock Alerts, which regularly posts updates pertaining to where players can buy next-gen consoles at any given time. After calling out GAME for facilitating the scalper bot known as Carnage's haul of 2,000 PS5s just yesterday, the retailer decided to block the account on social media, while taking no visible action against the scalpers themselves.
One person in the replies to the thread embedded above noted that GAME has also blocked another innocuous PS5 stock page, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with scalping activity. It currently appears that whoever is running GAME's social media is either incapable of determining what constitutes scalping, punishing innocent people who are actively trying to do good in the community, or is simply blocking anybody who posts dissenting opinions towards the retailer's recent behaviour.
Yesterday's scalper, Carnage, stated that it "just keeps getting easier" after reporting that it had acquired over 2,000 next-gen consoles. The account was set to private shortly after receiving backlash from people who have yet to obtain a PS5 for themselves due to scalpers buying up the vast majority of stock and inflating the cost to extortionate prices.
It's important to note that this comes in the wake of scalpers shifting over 60,000 PS5 and Xbox Series units in November, earning millions in the process. Given that GAME is a UK company, British MPs have also called for action against the popular retailer.
As it stands, it appears that people reporting the improper use of bots to obtain thousands of PS5s are being punished, as opposed to the scalpers responsible for widespread stock shortages and drastic inflation on the secondhand market.
TheGamer has reached out to both GAME and the accounts that have been confirmed to be blocked for comment. We'll update this story accordingly as facts continue to come in.