Analysts have begun calling the PlayStation VR 2 a “complete disaster” because of how poorly Sony’s next-generation VR headset has been selling since its launch last month. According to estimates from research firm IDC, Sony is expected to sell only 270,000 units of the PS VR2 between its February 22 release and the end of March, a number that pales in comparison to the number of PS VR2 headsets that Sony had originally planned to produce for the product’s launch window, which is reported as being 2 million units. PS VR2 is now available for $549.99, with one of the major titles being Horizon Call of the Mountain, a VR game set in the Horizon universe, developed by Guerrilla Games and Firesprite.
“Consumers around the world are facing rising costs of living, rising interest rates and rising layoffs,” said IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of data and analytics. “VR headsets are not top of mind for most consumers under the current economic climate.”
“I suspect a price cut on the PSVR2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product,” Jeronimo added.
From a Bloomberg report:
The Tokyo-based console maker is likely to sell about 270,000 units of the PSVR2 between its Feb. 22 release and the end of March, according to estimates from the research firm IDC. Sony had a lofty goal of making about 2 million units for the PSVR2’s launch window, Bloomberg News reported last year.
The headset is a foundational piece of Sony’s strategy to build a metaverse where people can do far more than play video games. But the conceptual 3D virtual environments that prompted Mark Zuckerberg to rename his company Meta Platforms Inc. have yet to repay the industry’s heavy investments in hardware and software. Sony president and Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida made the metaverse a growth tentpole for Sony, much like Meta has done, and the company’s in-house game studios have been developing VR-tailored games to help the new headset get off to a fast start that hasn’t materialized.
Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said at a recent Morgan Stanley conference that Sony is reasonably confident about surpassing the roughly 5 million sales of the original PlayStation VR goggles over the course of the PSVR2’s lifetime on the market. Matching the prior device’s performance would not make the current one a success, given Meta’s more accessible and affordable Quest has surpassed 20 million sales to date, according to a report this month.