Shortly after launch, reports circulated that PlayStation VR2 sales were disappointing. There were even claims that Sony decided to cut production of its virtual reality headset.
Though many looked to criticize Sony for the perceived “poor launch” of the headset, the context of the numbers paints a completely different story. Costing $549.99, the second-generation headset requires a PlayStation 5 to function and lacks backward compatibility with original PSVR games.
This price and functionality have one analyst in a new Bloomberg report thinking the product is heading toward failure.
“I suspect a price cut on the PSVR2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product,” IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of data and analytics, said.
In the same article, it’s stated that Sony is expected to have sold between 270,000 and 300,000 PlayStation VR2 headsets from its February 22, 2023 launch through the end of March. Though Jeronimo’s comments indicate a disappointment, the actual numbers are anything but.
If the nearly 300,000 headsets sold are accurate, PlayStation VR2 would be one of the best-selling VR headset launches in the history of the newer medium. Looking at sales numbers gathered by Twitter user Lewrian, the PlayStation VR 2 sales actually put it as the top wired headset in its first month. That’s just based on known numbers, however.
The first PlayStation VR headset sold about 915,000 units in its first five months. PlayStation VR2 has sold nearly a third of that in just one.
If numbers stay similar to the first month, it would take just about 19 months for PlayStation VR2 to surpass the original’s 5 million sold at 270,000 per month. Obviously, that number isn’t going to be the case and things will fluctuate at times based on availability and games. Still, if Sony has sold as many headsets so far as is claimed, it should be viewed as nothing short of a success for the company.
Insider Gaming has yet to independently verify the legitimacy of the sales numbers from Bloomberg. However, we have reached out to Sony for direct comment on PlayStation VR2 sales and will update the story should a response be received.
Want more Insider Gaming? Check out our hands-on review of the Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card that was released on April 13.
Another failed Sony product