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📈 Sony saw a 2,350% increase in PSVR 2 sales yesterday based on our data
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💰 PSVR 2 price increased from a steep $550 to $350 ($200 off)
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🤷♂️ After 24 hours, PSVR 2 is completely sold out on Amazon
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📆 Originally launched on February 2, 2023. Sample dates are from January 1 to present
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🥽 Many PS5 players previously found it too expensive and had few VR games
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🔜 August 7: Sony plans to open up PSVR 2 for PC gaming with an adapter
Sony’s PSVR 2 was always priced too high, and in further evidence of this widely held theory, we saw sales of the PS5 VR headset suddenly skyrocket on Sunday.
The timing is no accident. Amazon had the PSVR 2 for $200 off and according to the exclusive dealer data he has seen Representative, PSVR 2 sales skyrocketed by 2,350% in 24 hours. In fact, more PSVR 2s were sold on Sunday than in the first seven months of 2024 combined. Amazon is now sold out, but we still see the VR headset in stock at Walmart.
Walmart and other US retailers followed suit with their own price drops after Best Buy (which was the first) and Amazon (the second) cut prices Sunday morning. So the surge in PSVR 2 sales wasn’t just limited to Amazon.
PSVR 2 launched on February 2, 2023 with great promise. It had the potential to bring a well-known PlayStation game IP into virtual reality when only a handful of other VR headset manufacturers had established their own franchises. Sure enough, Sony launched Horizon Call of the Mountain along with a headset and more 30 PSVR 2 launch titles.
However, aside from the addition of a VR mode in Gran Turismo 7, there haven’t been many truly exceptional PSVR 2 games from Sony or third-party developers. Instead, we’ve seen a lot of ports straight from Meta Quest and more recently VR games like Hitman 3 VR Reloaded skipping PSVR 2 in total. The only hope is that PSVR 2 will get support for PC On August 7, it opens up the VR headset to other games.
Where is God of War, Uncharted or Spider-Man in VR? These should be top PSVR 2 games.
The biggest setback for PSVR 2 was the lack of first-party support. Where are God of War, Uncharted and Spider-Man in VR? These should be top PSVR 2 games.
Instead, most of Sony’s budget was devoted to best games on ps5, and it makes sense if you’re a video game developer trying to reach the widest possible audience. The PS5’s install base is much larger — Sony has sold nearly 60 million consoles, according to the company’s latest earnings.
I keep hearing from developers in these cases, “Why make a game for a fraction of the audience?” In a chicken-or-the-egg scenario, gamers aren’t willing to invest in a VR headset that won’t have many games planned.
I keep hearing from the players I’ve interviewed in the meantime that they feel like “just spent $500 on a PS5.” It was almost impossible to buy a Sony console because of PS5 Restock shortage in 2020 and 2021. Sony’s inventory issues are coming back to haunt them. Add in the fact that it was cheaper to buy a PS5 than the PSVR 2 at launch by $50 (for the PS5 Disc) to $150 (for the PS5 Digital). The PS5 Slim has an MSRP of $500 and is now on sale for $450, so an extra $550 was considered a stretch.
The PSVR 2’s new $350 price (Sony hasn’t confirmed if that price is sticking around) shows that there’s an appetite for VR gaming among PS5 goers. But it can’t cost more than the PS5 console itself, and there has to be software to play.
The bright spot is that we reported on how PlayStation Portal is the best-selling gaming accessory of 2024 yet, even though there was Replenishment of PS Portal stocks chaos that made it impossible to find stock for the first six months.
Sony announced a PS5 Pro console this fall (probably in September) a PSP 2 handheld in 2025, gamers I spoke to hope its launch day pricing strategy will be more like the $199 PlayStation Portal than the $550 PSVR 2.