Scalper bots ‘slowly starting to lose interest in PS5’, report suggests

Scalper bots are gradually starting to lose interest in the PlayStation 5, a report by a bot detection specialist has suggested.

Netacea has published its latest ‘Quarterly Index’ on the top five products targeted by scalper bots, this time covering the third quarter of 2022.

For the first time since it was released, the PlayStation 5 no longer appears among the list’s top three positions.

However, it does still sit at number 4, suggesting it remains an important target for bots, even if its value is slipping slightly.

Scalper bots are designed to find products as soon as they’re added to a website and then buy them quicker than a human is able to, allowing a scalper to easily acquire stock they can then re-sell at a higher price.

According to Netacea’s chart, the top five items targeted by scalper bots between July and September 2002 were:

1. Adidas Yeezy Slide Bone
2. Nike Dunk Low Panda
3. Panini Donruss Optic Football Trading Cards
4. PlayStation 5
5. Jordan 1 Retro Low OG UNC

“This is the first time the PlayStation 5 has not made the top three in our Index, a reflection of the slight reduction in bots targeting the console due to stock increases,” Netacea says in its report.

“However, its resale value has remained stable, with only a 2% drop since last quarter.”

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Numerous countries have been attempting to stop bot-driven scalping in recent years. A bill called the Gaming Hardware (Automated Purchase and Resale) Bill was brought forward in the UK Parliament in 2021 but it’s still not yet clear whether it will become law.

A group of US Democrats also introduced a new bill in December in the hope that it would ban the use of bots to scalp high-value items including games consoles.