Unusual portable Playdate console has already been bought more than 50,000 times

Panic has announced that since the start of pre-orders on 29 July 2021, its Playdate portable console has sold more than 50,000 units. According to the company, the initial plan was to produce 20,000 units.

"It’s been a great year for Playdate, - project lead Greg Maletic said in a statement, - When we started, we had no idea how big the audience would be for a weird product like this, but we told the factory build 20,000. To have now sold more than 53,000 (and counting) is heartening. And this, at a time when parts shortages forced our delivery lead-times out as much as a year. As those lead-times shorten and Playdate delivery becomes more immediate, we’re looking forward to an even better year two".

According to the company, it has already shipped 27,000 pre-ordered consoles and is now "working hard" to fulfil the remaining orders.

Source: VGC

Flashback

Playdate is a portable game console from Panic that was announced in 2019. It has a small black-and-white screen and looks quite unconventional, with a built-in D-pad. The console has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB-C ports, as well as a battery that can work for up to 24 hours on a single charge.

One of the main features of Playdate is that it has access to new games through weekly updates for 12 weeks. These games will be released exclusively for Playdate and will be delivered to users for free. The console will also support classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color games thanks to a built-in emulator.

According to Panic, the Playdate was created with the idea of providing users with something new and fresh in the world of portable game consoles, so it differs from conventional devices that are based on powerful hardware and large screens.