AMD inexplicably threw a bone at the scalpers with the limited-edition ‘Midnight Black’ GPU

Because the world was in desperate need of another GPU that people can’t buy, AMD decided to release a limited “Midnight Black” version of its Radeon RX 6800 XT early Wednesday morning, which it sold out even before. that most people didn’t see that the map was there. .

You might be wondering, “Why would you release a limited edition version of something that is practically a collector’s item, even without a new coat of paint?” (Recent GPUs from AMD are even rarer than those from Nvidia, although both currently command two to three times their retail price on eBay.)

Or you might be wondering, “When, exactly, did AMD announce a new GPU?” I don’t remember that. This is because the company has not officially announced it: according to VideoCardz, AMD quietly told its “AMD Red Team Community” fan base via email around midnight that they should be monitoring the map at 6 a.m. PT, an announcement that has not been kept secret. , to put it lightly.

Personally, I just wonder: if AMD really wanted to put video cards in the hands of their fans, why not check their emails, email unique, non-transferable passwords, or raffle them off? , or do something other than put them on the same website where bots, scalpers, and everyone else already knows how to look – a website that some people have set up to refresh their browsers all day?

It seems there was a special “Red Team link”, but a group of potential buyers reported that it didn’t work – while a few others claimed they were able to purchase one from the main page of the store by pressing the refresh button. or by using a Javascript shortcut to trick the website.

There are potential solutions to these problems, but the gaming industry doesn’t seem very interested in finding them. Still, I have to give AMD credit for selling it for the original retail price of $ 649 instead of charging more.

It is not known how many Midnight Black cards were produced; At the time of going to press, two buyers were trying to peddle their confirmed orders on eBay, while a third had withdrawn their listing due to an unspecified error.

AMD tells The edge it “continues to focus on bringing the latest Radeon graphics cards to as many gamers as possible in SEP,” and counts the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Midnight Black appearing briefly in that context.

“We continue to make reference cards available on AMD.com and will continue to replenish the offering for the foreseeable future,” the company says, which it failed to do the last time I spoke. wrote about a similar claim. Since then, however, AMD has (very briefly) delivered GPU supplies at least three times to my knowledge.