2023 is set to be a very tough year for hardware sales. Added to some numbers of shipments that seem to be plummeting is the recent bump in Sony, which has decided to lower its PlayStation VR2 shipment forecasts after seeing that the results of the reservations have been disappointing. In other words, the number of PlayStation VR2 pre-orders is well below Sony’s estimates, which has been forced to cut back on its forecasts.
Sony had expected to ship 1.5 million units of the PlayStation VR2 between April 2023 and March 2024, however, that number points to a much smaller number after seeing pre-order sales fail. The reason for the bump, according to Bloomberg, points to being in the price, of 599.99 euros for the Eurozone. The fact that the VR headset is more expensive than the console itself would have put many people off buying it.
On the other hand, we find that virtual reality, despite having gained followers in recent years, is still not something mainstream and widespread at all. Added to this are some prices that are often out of the pockets of the majority, something to which is added the current context of crisis in which we live. Another possible reason for the low demand for PlayStation VR2 is the fact that it is not compatible with the games developed for the first generation of the helmet, which forces the second generation of the device to have a good catalog that justifies its purchase unless that Sony manages to brand its own Half-Life: Alyx.
Currently the dominating device in the virtual reality market is the Quest 2 from Meta with an 85% share and a base price of 449.99 euros. The failure of the reservations of PlayStation VR2 apparently reinforces the position of John Carmack, and that is that the mythical ex-member of Id Software, before leaving Meta, stressed that the dissemination of the Metaverse went through selling cheaper virtual reality devices that cost around at 250 dollars.
We’ll see if PlayStation VR2 manages to come back, but everything indicates that Sony is not only going to have to feed the helmet an interesting game catalog, but also reduce the price of the device to make it really attractive for PlayStation 5 users.
