Friday, March 31st 2023
Sony PlayStation VR2 Suffers First Month Low Unit Sales, Price Cut Predicted
Industry analysts have been busy with reviews of the PlayStation VR2 headset's launch sales figures, and have concluded that the numbers are a big disappointment according to findings published in a Bloomberg article. The research firm IDC is predicting that the PS VR2 is unlikely to break above 270,000 unit sales - timed from its launch this year on February 22 to the end of March. This is a substantial shortfall when lined up against the expected sales figures - Sony was reported to have an estimate of 2 million units sold going into the next financial year, but it was cutback to 1.5 million in the recent past. Francisco Jeronimo, IDC's Vice President of data and analytics cites a number of factors for the sluggish start: "Consumers around the world are facing rising costs of living, rising interest rates and rising layoffs - VR headsets are not top of mind for most consumers under the current economic climate."
Gamers were surprised by the higher than expected pricing for the PlayStation VR2 headset - at an MSRP of $550 it exceeds the asking price of the PlayStation 5 - and the home console is a necessary component in hosting the VR2's functionality. The virtual reality device has been a critical darling, although reviewers have been quick to question the price tag. It has been praised for an impressive specification and feature set, which includes dual 2,000 x 2,040 OLED displays, class leading eye-tracking tech and innovative Move wand controllers. The analysts share similar views about the high MSRP - Jeronimo predicts that Sony will need to take drastic action in order to right its sales ship: "I suspect a price cut on the PS VR2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product." A price cut would perhaps appeal to a more mainstream buyer, coupled with the PlayStation VR2 being part of an ultra familiar gaming brand, but VR headset manufacturers as a whole are experiencing a slowdown in sales. Gamers were slow to adopt the first iteration of Sony's virtual headset, and that pattern appears to be repeating for the new model.
Sources:
Bloomberg News, Francisco Jeronimo's Tweet
Gamers were surprised by the higher than expected pricing for the PlayStation VR2 headset - at an MSRP of $550 it exceeds the asking price of the PlayStation 5 - and the home console is a necessary component in hosting the VR2's functionality. The virtual reality device has been a critical darling, although reviewers have been quick to question the price tag. It has been praised for an impressive specification and feature set, which includes dual 2,000 x 2,040 OLED displays, class leading eye-tracking tech and innovative Move wand controllers. The analysts share similar views about the high MSRP - Jeronimo predicts that Sony will need to take drastic action in order to right its sales ship: "I suspect a price cut on the PS VR2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product." A price cut would perhaps appeal to a more mainstream buyer, coupled with the PlayStation VR2 being part of an ultra familiar gaming brand, but VR headset manufacturers as a whole are experiencing a slowdown in sales. Gamers were slow to adopt the first iteration of Sony's virtual headset, and that pattern appears to be repeating for the new model.
34 Comments on Sony PlayStation VR2 Suffers First Month Low Unit Sales, Price Cut Predicted
I thought this was backwards compatible with the PS4 VR1 games, thanks to the poster-above for mentioning it isn't....I'm actually kinda shocked it's not....that is a *huge* deal breaker and I absolutely understand why people are going "Forget This...."
PS: Having said all that, people don't "Get" VR until they try it......because most people think "Oh its just strapping an LCD monitor to your face"....no, it's not. Its seamlessly 3D. VR is less like being in a "game" and more like being on a Ride at a theme park, because your entire body gets involved...because your brain thinks it's supposed to be involved based on what it is seeing through the visor. So while I get the "too expensive" part......if you are reading this and you haven't tried VR.....it really is....kinda a big deal.
Granted, I remember when games were B&W with like 100 pixels on the screen and telephones were all rotary dial......so you know, your mileage may vary on the whole "OMG" front....but for me.....it was OMG starting with the first Oculus Rift CV1.
Driving games, for example, you will notice the incredible elevation changes on tracks that you absolutely ignore when you're just looking at a flat 2D screen.......you can look into corners, use your side mirrors, be surprised when you notice a car is right there next to you (because it's all 3D, and all rendered to scale, your brain does get tricked easily into flinching.....this goes away with time but it's really palpable at first).
And flying or space flight simulators....well.....keep a bucket near you the first time you go flying in VR :)
With its VR and also its [allegedly] accessible controller not being open to PC users, the decisions that led them there may harm Sony in the long run more than help it.
(Edited for typos.)
So 549.99 ?
Damn wish I had a cool name like Jeronimo :cool:
That being said, we're seeing a huge tech slowdown due to all of the layoffs. Disney just laid off their entire Metaverse division apparently (for example). The people who'd normally be jumping to buy this stuff are losing their jobs right now. Even if $700 is a good price, I think VR is going to be undergoing a massive slowdown.
I'm torn, I really want to try GT7 in vr, but 550 bucks for only that is just no.
www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/meta-quest-2-128gb-vr-headset-with-touch-controllers/15490835
A bunch of coworkers got the occulus and play golf together, not sure I'd shell out that cash for golf lol
lol wild
Gotta say, it's dampened the experience, and I haven't touch the PS5 since. Back to PC gaming.
Good luck Facebook with the all in you've made :D (not really, I hope they crash and burn, that'll be a ton of fun)Just not being controlled and dependent on Facebook is much better, but even excluding that it's supposed to be (I have neither, judging based on available reviews). Problem is price and available games, dropping support for the original PSVR was a very poor decision
Still waiting for the Anniversary Edition though. It should be coming out in 2021, but nothing from the developers unfortunately.