Panic’s handheld video game console, the Playdate, was released in April 2022, and the company revealed that it sold 53,142 units in just a year’s time. That’s over two and a half times more than Panic initially planned on producing.
The company began taking pre-orders for the adorable indie handheld console at the end of July 2021, and was unsure if it would be able to move the 20,000 units. Customers blew that number out of the water within 20 minutes.
The Playdate’s demand is undeniable, but sometimes that can complicate things more than originally anticipated. Panic was met with a critical battery issue during the first batch’s manufacturing process, which led to the company switching suppliers and delaying the release of the console-with-a-crank to 2022.
Manufacturing costs were another wrench thrown into the gears of the Playdate’s production and sale, causing the console’s price to be drastically raised from $20 to $199 in April of 2023.
The company has shipped around 27,000 units and is confident that it can fulfill all preorders by the end of 2023. After that, Panic will look to start shipping the Playdate Stereo Dock, an accompanying charger/speaker combo for the console.
Those fortunate enough to get their hands on one of the quirky consoles will get access to a library consisting of 24 games, with over 400 titles available on Itch.io. Panic says that almost 40 percent of users have sideloaded games or apps onto the console. They have also released ‘Catalog,’ a built-in store for users to install games and apps.
For a company that’s faced its fair share of hiccups along the way, 50,000+ Playdate consoles sold in one year is an even bigger accomplishment than it sounds.
Image credit: Panic
Source: Panic Via: Engadget
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