Sony may be forced to lower PSVR 2's price after slow launch

[midian182]

In brief: While Sony's PSVR 2 is said to offer an excellent virtual reality experience, it seems asking $550 for the device wasn't the best idea, especially at a time of economic uncertainty when people are tightening their belts. According to a new report, sales of the headset are off to a slow start, and a price cut might be necessary to avoid a total disaster.

Research firm IDC (via Bloomberg) estimates that Sony will likely sell about 270,000 units of the PSVR2, which launched on February 22, by the end of March.

Francisco Jeronimo, IDC's Vice President of data and analytics, pointed to the shaky global economy as one the main reasons behind the PSVR 2's disappointing start. At a time when utility prices are rising, interest rates are high, and many companies are cutting jobs, paying $550 for a virtual reality headset isn't a big priority for most people.

"I suspect a price cut on the PSVR2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product," Jeronimo said.

Sony initially hoped to sell 2 million PSVR 2 headsets during its launch quarter, but it revised that figure to one million. The PSVR 2 likely saw its biggest surge in sales during its first month of release, with purchases slowing down going forward. The Japanese gaming giant believes that the latest version of its console's headset will be popular enough to outsell the original PSVR's 5 million lifetime sales, which seems optimistic.

The PSVR 2 has won rave reviews for its impressive set of features, excellent controllers, and dual 2,000 x 2,040 OLED displays. But pricing the headset higher than the PlayStation 5 was always going to put some people off.

The news is yet another blow to the VR industry and, by association, the metaverse. Headset shipments were down 12% year-over-year in 2022, while Microsoft and Disney have laid off their entire metaverse teams as part of cost-cutting plans.

Meta, of course, still insists the metaverse will be the future of computing, but until VR becomes more accessible to the masses, that will probably remain Mark Zuckerberg's unfulfilled dream.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/98153-sony-could-forced-reduce-psvr-2-price-after.html

 

[Blqckout]

Ill buy a quest headset if its at 300 or 350, anything above 400 is unreasonable

 

[toooooot]

Games, do you even have them?
Compatibility with Steam could help with sales too.

 

[mrvco]

Maybe everyone is just trying to pay off their credit cards enough to buy Apple's $3k meta-killer goggles instead?

 

[Hodor]

Think of them as an investment. In 200 years you'll be able to sell them for 300,000,000 dollars.

 

[DukeJukem]

The price will lower. They basically just launched, all reviews are positive and I'd rather pay the Sony tax over the Apple tax etc. in this instance. The majority of the very expensive VR Headsets that have launched in the past with ridiculous prices were garbage in comparison to this offering. They really do need to make it compatible with Steam however.

 

[kira setsu]

I have a quest 2 that's just a console by itself or it can connect to my pc wirelessly.

paying 500 smackers for a tethered headset just seems silly, even if its a techno marvel.

 

[dangh]

Instead of reducing price it would be more beneficial to release pc drivers. I won't buy a vr for one device only.

 

[michalcz]

The hardware is good but Im not buying until there is more games for it.

 

[NintPlayBox]

Piece of advice for Sony:

- Get at least 90% of the original PSVR games working on PSVR2.

- Make it fully compatible with PC.

otherwise a significant price cut is in order.

 

[m4a4]

Games, do you even have them?
Compatibility with Steam could help with sales too.

They should start with backwards compatibility lol

But still, Sony wanting to play nice with other platforms? Not a chance...

 

[toooooot]

Maybe everyone is just trying to pay off their credit cards enough to buy Apple's $3k meta-killer goggles instead?

If it was also a next gen VR killer headset I would be tempted .
I started researching vrs some time ago. There is no perfect VR. They all have different shortcomings.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Maybe everyone is just trying to pay off their credit cards enough to buy Apple's $3k meta-killer goggles instead?

Why??? - it's an automatic buy no matter the state of your credit card- such considerations are not necessary for the true believers - It's just going to work out of the box - does it matter the thousands of Apple AAA games coming - I'll be the coolest lamb in the metro watching apple TV - sure I lost my winter fleece to pay for it - but being cool and cold is worth it.

And no it's not everyone - Apple is a luxury niche product from a plucky upstart company - its for the rich , those with good tastes and life aspirations - it's not for common grinders in life , the poor - They need to ask themselves - what value can I bring to the flock - Why should they get updates from their iPhone on their heart - they can't even afford medical

Apple Rant over

 

[bviktor]

Games, do you even have them?
Compatibility with Steam could help with sales too.

I mean people bring this up LITERALLY every single darned article about the PSVR2.

PC compat would boost PSVR2 sales, yes.

It would also hurt PS5 sales, and PSVR2 game development, yes.

 

[bviktor]

They should start with backwards compatibility lol

But still, Sony wanting to play nice with other platforms? Not a chance...

Too many fundamental changes in the hardware for that.

They're already doing "remasters" for some titles, like Moss, which is a good direction.

 

[bviktor]

Give me some AAA games that are not 5 hour tech demos. THAT will boost sales, I promise.

 

[m4a4]

Too many fundamental changes in the hardware for that.

They're already doing "remasters" for some titles, like Moss, which is a good direction.

No. There are no fundamental changes that would actually affect old titles, unless you believe Sony's PR department lol

The PC space has already proven that it's easy to have backwards compatibility for VR.

 

[dangh]

I mean people bring this up LITERALLY every single darned article about the PSVR2.

PC compat would boost PSVR2 sales, yes.

It would also hurt PS5 sales, and PSVR2 game development, yes.

I don't think it would hurt psvr2 games sale or development. Sony can keep develop games for psvr2 on pc as well. Surely not having pc drivers hurts sales - I would love to buy a number of psvr2 games but I won't, because I'm big fan of elite dangerous and war thunder on pc, so if rather buy a vr spring bigger titles. If they would release pc drivers they would sold me psvr2, 10+ vr games, and if be happy to have only one junk to cover all my needs, for good price and with a good quality.

 

[Uncle Al]

At half price it will be affordable but until then .....

 

[Fulljack]

I mean people bring this up LITERALLY every single darned article about the PSVR2.

PC compat would boost PSVR2 sales, yes.

It would also hurt PS5 sales, and PSVR2 game development, yes.

it won't. just like games, opening up exclusives to other platform help boost sales. even sony opening up dualsense to PC — even though wired only.

compatibility with PC will help PSVR2 sales, and even PS5 sales if Sony decides to add older PSVR compatibility.

 

[Watzupken]

550 is not cheap, but not expensive for a good VR headset. But you will need to buy a PS5, which increases the cost. The main kicker, only 2 games works with it now.