Sony reportedly slashes PSVR 2 projections after disappointing pre-orders

Folks not finding $550 down the back of the sofa

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Sony Interactive Entertainment has slashed its sales projections for its upcoming virtual reality hardware PlayStation VR2 (PSVR 2).

Bloomberg’s sources claim that the studio has radically altered its sales estimations for the hugely expensive hardware — which launches worldwide on February 22, at a price of $550 USD. The report suggests that SIE has reduced expected sales from two million units to one million units. That’s a 50% drop for all of you maths majors out there. The report claims that these altered sales projections are due to disappointing pre-order numbers.

The reduced numbers also apply to the PSVR 2’s production process, writes Bloomberg, suggesting that retailers and manufacturers have also been warned to adjust their expectations for units made and received. The pre-order process for PSVR 2 was initially invite-only, but the option to sign up for the princely hardware was soon made available to all customers. Sony itself has not commented on the claims, noting that it does not disclose product inventory.

PlayStation 5 is undoubtedly an expensive piece of hardware, but is, obviously, an entire console platform. While the PSVR 2 technology is undoubtedly very impressive, it remains a niche audience item, and was never going to pull in the entirety, the majority, or even half of the PS5’s user base. And at its expensive entry point — essentially a total rollout of $1000 for both the PS5 console and the PSVR 2 hardware — the likelihood of chart-topping sales in its launch year was always a lofty ambition.

PlayStation VR2 launches worldwide on February 22, 2023.

Chris Moyse

Senior Editor – Chris has been playing video games since the 1980s and writing about them since the 1880s. Graduated from Galaxy High with honors. Twitter: @ChrisxMoyse