PlayStation VR 2: the launch of the PS5 virtual reality headset postponed to 2023

While PS5 gamers are eagerly awaiting the release of Sony’s next VR headset, they might just have to be a little more patient, as an analyst announces it’s been delayed to 2023.

According to Ross Young, well known in the monitor industry, VR screen shipments will increase by 50% to reach 15 million units in 2022. However, despite this sharp increase in shipments, some companies have reportedly postponed the launch of their VR headsets, including Apple with its Google Glass that it should discuss at WWDC 2022, but especially Sony and its PSVR2 headset.

This report therefore corroborates previous leaks which also indicated that the virtual reality headset on PS5 would not arrive until 2023. Anyway, it seems that the helmet is already almost ready to go on sale, since it had been presented to some developers during the Game Developers Conference at the end of last month. The Unity graphics engine had also hosted a session titled “ Building Next-Gen Games for PlayStation VR2 with Unity to help studios design games for the device.

Why won’t Sony’s VR headset arrive until 2023?

Several reasons could have pushed Sony to postpone the release of its virtual reality headset. First of all, we can cite the worldwide shortage of components, which could have lead to stock-out situations that are too rapid for the taste of the company. We have already seen over the past few years the frustration of some gamers desperately trying to get their hands on a PS5, Sony would therefore not necessarily want the situation to repeat itself with another of its products.

Then we know that the shortage of components has led to a lower number of PS5 sales than Sony could have originally hoped. So, although the console was a success, Sony might have chosen towait for the PS5 to be more widely distributed before launching such a headset, often considered a niche accessory. Sony must therefore make sure to reach a large base of players to hope to sell its headphones.