PlayStation’s PSVR 2 may need a price cut to "avoid disaster" claims expert

The second generation of Sony's VR headset, the PSVR 2, officially launched last February, but experts already detect a price cut on the horizon. Following poor launch sales, this could signal troubled waters for Sony's PlayStation VR 2 headset.

With the Japanese company reporting sales of around 270k units since launch, IDC's Francisco Jeronimo comments that Sony might be considering cutting the price of the VR headset to improve sales. Currently priced at a staggering 550$, the new headset is more expensive than the PS5 required to run it.

Since consumers are facing higher costs of living, they might not be really interested in such an investment in the technology, especially when the latest VR headsets "haven't sparked any great excitement". Some users have indeed commented that the decision to not sell the VR headset in stores might have also caused Sony to miss out on potential sales.

The Japanese company had originally estimated sales for PSVR 2, for the first quarter, to be around two million units. By the end of January, following disappointing pre-orders, Sony had already halved that number, deciding to ship only a million units instead. The company is still expecting to ship around 1.5 million units to customers by March 2024.

While the PSVR 2's price tag is lower than other VR headsets, it must be noted that Sony's offering is only compatible with a PlayStation 5, as opposed to units like the Meta and Oculus Quest. Even then, all-in-one headsets like the Quest 2 are cheaper and don’t require additional hardware to play games on.

Another issue with the PSVR 2 is its complete lack of retro compatibility with previous generation titles. While some developers have offered free upgrades for past customers, OG PSVR games cannot be used on the new machine.

Overall, demand for VR headsets also reports IDC is seeing a significant drop, claims IDC. Both Meta and Microsoft had scaled back their investments in VR operations, following a series of layoffs.

With that said, all is not lost for Sony's second generation of VR headset. If the gaming company continues its barrage of VR exclusives, such as the Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 4 Remake VR modes,