1/31 2:00 PM Update: Sony hits back at Bloomberg report
If you pay attention to current events, you will find that we are in the midst of a recession of sorts. It may be a market correction after years of exponential growth or something else entirely, but the reality is that many people are currently unemployed and the cost of living is ridiculously high.
Given this, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Sony cut the PS VR2. (opens in new tab) Production reported by Bloomberg (opens in new tab)Sony apparently made the decision after pre-order numbers weren’t as high as originally expected for the $550 VR headset.
$550 is a very reasonable price for such a state-of-the-art device, but the PS VR2 still needs a PS5. It will cost consumers an additional $400 if they don’t already have the console.
To recap the news, Sony no longer expects PS VR2 to surpass PSVR, as it once stated. (opens in new tab)Now the company is confident it will outsell the original PSVR system by a little bit more, citing projections of 1.5 million units sold by March 2024. It’s a depressing number considering Meta has sold more than 20 million Quest 2s in the past. The holiday season, and this whole story, is almost entirely Sony’s fault.
You won’t be able to pre-order the PS VR2 at GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg, or wherever you normally buy new consoles. Is it strange that the number of reservations is small?
Price is not an issue for Sony’s strategy this time around, despite the difficult economic times many of us are facing. Sony initially went with a lottery system and sold the PS VR2 directly only through his website on his PlayStation Direct. It has since been available for pre-order for anyone who wants to buy it, but you can only order directly from Sony.
Yes, it is. You won’t be able to pre-order the PS VR2 at GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg, or wherever you normally buy new consoles. Sony has artificially gated his PS VR2 hardware only through their own website. Is it any wonder that there are so few pre-orders?
Whether this is strategic FUBAR or greedy play (they don’t have to split the cost with the retailer if you buy from Sony) the end result is the same. You wouldn’t even know you could pre-order it right away.
Second, Sony’s advertising and hype campaign for this system was at an all-time low. It took him a whopping two years for the company to finally reveal his 3-piece PS VR2 system (a headset and he comes with two controllers).
No play status. No big deal. There’s no monumental show to get gamers excited about the next generation of VR headsets launching in three weeks.
No play status. No big deal. No monumental show will get gamers excited about the next generation of VR headsets. Just a few blog posts and a few videos were quietly posted on the company’s YouTube channel with very little mention of the system at CES 2022 and 2023. Historically, gamers had never lined up in droves to watch.
Sony has also completely dropped the ball in game development and even announcing games that will launch on the system. Regardless, it was incredibly bare-bones until about two weeks ago.
Developers have come out in droves for this system, and it’s garnering a level of support never before seen in a system launch. It seems like they forgot to launch major hardware in a week.
What about first party development? Horizon: Call of the Mountain looks cool, but as far as I can tell, all the trailers are more like tech demos with lots of mini-games than full-blown Horizon titles We can see that. Watching the hands-on video reveals more than that, but again, Sony’s marketing is a big problem here.
Developers have come out in droves, releasing more games for PS VR2 than any major console release to date.
Also, did you know that Gran Turismo 7 officially supported VR at the same time as PS VR2 was released? Even if Gran Turismo isn’t a strong system seller back in the days of PS1/PS2, it feels like it flew well under most gamers’ radars.
No matter how you look at it, this problem is almost entirely caused by Sony itself. If the company really wants his VR to be more successful than just slow to make money, things need to change. Sony, like the rest of the VR community, should be excited about this release, and they need to do it quickly.
update
After I published this, Sony publicly stated that Bloomberg’s report was false, according to Gamesindustry.biz. (opens in new tab)Whoever tells the truth here doesn’t change the sentiment of this article. Sony can and should do a better job with the PS VR2 and should start by offering units to popular retailers so more customers can pre-order them in stores. .
Got a PS5? Requires PS VR2. Bring these virtual worlds to life with gorgeous 4K HDR OLED displays, controller and headset haptics, adaptive triggers, and visuals that make everything feel real.
