Sony PSVR2 Sales Are Reportedly Off To a Slow Start

Sony PlayStation VR2 headsets were launched at the end of last month. The latest reports suggest that PSVR2 will sell fewer than 300,000 units in its first few weeks.

Bloomberg’s recent report claims that Sony’s latest tech offering is off to a slower start than imagined by the company.

PSVR2’s slow start in the market

The report credits the slow pace to Sony’s attempts to play a leading role in the development of the metaverse.

Sony is likely to sell around 270,000 PSVR2 headsets between February 22 (launch date) and the end of March, as estimated by research firm IDC.

Bloomberg reported last year that Sony was aiming to manufacture around 2 million units for PSVR2’s launch.

Sony building towards metaverse

The company’s strategic move to build towards a metaverse revolves around the introduction of the new PlayStation VR2, which allows users to not only play VR games, but enjoy other forms of interactive entertainment in the metaverse.

Sony has also been developing VR games such as Horizon Call of the Mountain for promoting its new headset but that move hasn’t been fruitful so far, given the projected sales at this point.

“Consumers around the world are facing rising costs of living, rising interest rates and rising layoffs,” IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of data and analytics told Bloomberg. “VR headsets are not top of mind for most consumers under the current economic climate.”

“A price cut on the PSVR2 will be needed”

“I suspect a price cut on the PSVR2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product,” said Jeronimo.

Recently, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said at a Morgan Stanley conference that Sony is confident that PSVR2’s lifetime sales will surpass 5 million sales of the original PlayStation VR headsets.

While the PSVR2 may provide better performance than its predecessor, it’s the cost of the new device and the surrounding financial requirements that may hamper its sales on the market.

Sony PSVR2 costs $549.99 globally (roughly ₹45,000) and also requires a PlayStation 5 to play the VR games and the PS5 costs $499.99 (₹49,990 in India).