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[Eddie-Griffin]

https://www.techradar.com/news/psvr-2-needs-to-change-to-outsell-its-predecessor

Uphill battle

It looks like Sony is confident that PSVR 2 could outsell its predecessor, but things will need to change in order to make that happen.

Sony's chief financial officer, Hiroki Totoki, was optimistic on the topic of PSVR 2 outselling the first PlayStation VR headset when speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference just last week (thanks, VGC(opens in new tab)).

"We are very happy to launch VR2 on PS5," Totoki said at the event. "VR1, we sold over five million units, and I think we have a good chance to exceed that amount with PlayStation VR2."

And while the PS5 headset is undoubtedly excellent, boasting superb image quality and welcome features like eye-tracking support, it doesn't seem to be a hit with console owners out of the gate.

PSVR 2's pre-order performance was reportedly quite poor, and the high cost of $549 / £529 / AU$879 certainly won't do it any favors in the immediate future. It's an impressively high-end headset, for sure, but the fact it's more expensive than the PS5 itself is simply bad optics for the average consumer.

Does PSVR 2 stand a chance?​

I personally want nothing but success for PSVR 2. I've loved my time with the headset so far, and playing some of the best PSVR 2 games has been joyous. Between Horizon: Call of the Mountain's immersive climbing and Gran Turismo 7's breathtaking driving experience, the act of playing games in PSVR 2 is simply fantastic.

And I know it's early days; the headset isn't even a month old at the time of writing. But at present, PSVR 2 is not well-positioned to even scratch the surface of its predecessor's impressive sales record.

Sony is going to need more exclusives than just Horizon if it really wants to start shifting PSVR 2 units. But beyond that, the VR headset is kneecapped in a number of ways. It's not backwards compatible with original PSVR games, for a start, meaning you'll still have to dig out your old headset if you fancy dipping back into Resident Evil 7 or Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. As it stands, we're relying on developers to port their PSVR games to the new headset, and that's not a guarantee.

I'd also love to see Sony bring PSVR 2 games to its PS Plus game catalog. If players are able to download some VR exclusive games at the cost of a monthly subscription, that'll ease the burden on their wallets, especially after dropping a mountain of cash on an expensive headset.

Again, I want to stress that at such an early stage, we simply don't know how PSVR 2 will perform in the long run. But there are things Sony can do now, such as the above suggestions, to make PSVR 2 that much more palatable. A price drop would help, too, but I can't see that happening for at least a couple more years.

Rhys Wood from Tech Radar, who gave accolades to PSVR2, has shifted tone doing a complete one 80 questioning it's performance, even bringing up the still disputed Bloomberg report that Sony cut shipment numbers from 2 million to 1, which Sony themselves later said was not true.

He also names 2 games that you can only play on PSVR2, but says there's only one exclusive.

However he does make two good points, the less important one is that yes lack of BC does sort of burn adopters of the first headset.

But more importantly is his suggestion that perhaps Sony puts some games on PS Plus.

After all, giving a VR incentive with some exciting games would lead to more PS Plus subs and will give users access to see if they want to spend more money on other games. A sort of entry-way into VR. I'm actually surprised they aren't done that given there's like what, 60 games on the thing, they could do a PS Plus rotation every month for several of those games.

Honestly, that's a pretty good idea to have PSVR2 games on PS Plus. BELOW Premium tier of course.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

He’s basing this on no numbers at all

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Eddie, you must have a bot that Google search's "VR" + results in last hour like every 10 seconds......

 

[Killer8]

It came out 3 weeks ago and already needs to change?

Someone is hungry for some clicks.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Has this thing even been out a month? and reporters are now doing a 180 ...

Honeymoon phase over perhaps?

I think you have to be a hardcore VR fan to love it and these everyday peeps are getting over the initial wow and not sticking with it?

That or they are crazy...

 

[PixelatedBeast]

I think Sony has already made the necessary changes to outsell the first headset. I dont remember Psvr1 having anywhere near this amount of buzz.

 

[nowhat]

Every time Eddie-Griffin posts a VR thread, an angel gets his wings.

 

[EN250]

It's a niche product, it's expensive and it has less than a month in the market, changes can be done accordingly based on time and userbase growth

 

[gothmog]

We get it, Eddie.

 

[Crayon]

A lot of this talk about sales and fails acts like this needs to sell to people who don't want vr at all. Let's be real and talk about people who are at least considering a VR purchase in the first place.

Look at it from the perspective of a person actually shopping for vr and has a PS5. Otherwise one is saying it needs to carry the market to succeed. 15 million q2's is still a huge success, lest we forget.

 

[LimanimaPT]

Well, at this price I doubt it will out sell psvr1. A toy for rich people...

 

[DenchDeckard]

I think Sony has already made the necessary changes to outsell the first headset. I dont remember Psvr1 having anywhere near this amount of buzz.

What buzz? It's none existent in the UK....but maybe it's different in other parts of the world?

 

[Three]

He also names 2 games that you can only play on PSVR2, but says there's only one exclusive.

How so? You have Horizon:CoTM, GT7, and Resident Evil 8.
You know what I hate about these claims? The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR literally releases tomorrow too yet the people writing these articles don't seem to follow the VR scene and make claims like this.

 

[nowhat]

It's none existent in the UK....

It's "non-existent" for those of us outside the UK. HTH, HAND.

 

[DenchDeckard]

How so? You have Horizon:CoTM, GT7, and Resident Evil 8.
You know what I hate about these claims? The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR literally releases tomorrow too yet the people writing these articles don't seem to follow the VR scene and make claims like this.

But isn't that reviewing quite poorly? Its hard to get excited by seriously mediocre games when a 550 dollar accessory purchase is required to play them.

 

[nowhat]

But isn't that reviewing quite poorly?

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR Reviews

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR is rated 'Fair' after being reviewed by 28 critics, with an overall average score of 68. It's ranked in the bottom 34% of games and recommended by 41% of critics.

opencritic.com

75 - not good, not bad.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

It’s too expensive.

It’s not overpriced, it’s just too expensive.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

How so? You have Horizon:CoTM, GT7, and Resident Evil 8.
You know what I hate about these claims? The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR literally releases tomorrow too yet the people writing these articles don't seem to follow the VR scene and make claims like this.

In a previous article by Inverse the author listed two games that weren't even exclusives and left out two games that were. Who had worked at IGN iirc.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

Well, at this price I doubt it will out sell psvr1. A toy for rich people...

A whole $50 more expensive than the PSVR1 was. I must be a millionaire to be able to afford one lol.

People acting like PSVR1 wasn’t $500 with the camera needed for it to operate as well as the move controllers. It was only $400 if you wanted the headset only but the unit was useless if you didn’t already own a camera which was $50 by itself.

PSVR2 is $50-100 more expensive if you were willing to give up the Move controllers and play with DualShock 4 only. Kinda silly when many games required move controllers to be effective.

PSVR2 is much better tech than the PSVR1 ever was and it’s only $50 more. People acting like you need to rob a bank to afford one compared to the PSVR1 are living in an alternate reality. Both devices target the same kind of gamer. If you could afford a PSVR1 back in the day, you can most likely afford one now.

 

[Liljagare]

Wth is going on with all theese BS articles regarding the PSVR 2?

Everyday there is a new one. Apple or MS paying for FUD?

 

[midnightAI]

Wth is going on with all theese BS articles regarding the PSVR 2?

Everyday there is a new one. Apple or MS paying for FUD?

Clickbait, purely clickbait, it's new hardware and they are using it to generate clicks. Eddie is generating half the clicks for them.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

I like the idea of PS VR2 but it will face an uphill battle. It's expensive and isn't backward compatible, and its only for people that want VR and already have a PS5.

 

[ABnormal]

I like the idea of PS VR2 but it will face an uphill battle. It's expensive and isn't backward compatible, and its only for people that want VR and already have a PS5.

I think that when it was developed they already knew all of that at Sony.

Obviously it's easier not doing anything like competitors. Good for their fanbase if they are happier like that.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

I think that wen it was developed they already knew all of that at Sony.

Obviously it's easier not doing anything like competitors. Good for their fanbase if they are happier like that.

It's obviously a good thing that PS VR2 exists. If the market is going to grow for VR then Sony would be wise to keep their hat in the ring so when the market matures they are ready.

 

[ABnormal]

It's obviously a good thing that PS VR2 exists. If the market is going to grow for VR then Sony would be wise to keep their hat in the ring so when the market matures they are ready.

That's it: they don't need to sell this or that number. They just have to be profitable and make happy those who want it. Who are another number of gamers of the ecosystem. And in some future, they will have already the know-how on VR development.

 

[Evolved1]

This is stupid, targeted clickbait created to attract the attention of a specific group of people engaged by content that will reinforce their own preconceptions. This is what modern media does... it's all transparent bullshit. This is the world we live in.

 

[kicker]

PSVR2 is much better tech than the PSVR1 ever was and it’s only $50 more

I don't think people consider vr purchases in the same bracket as other consumer electronics. The psvr2 isn't much more expensive than the psvr1, sure, but I'd guess most people don't see the need to upgrade (or even get into the ecosystem) like they might for consoles, smartphones, or tvs. Especially since vr as a whole hasn't left the gimmick mind space yet, in my opinion

 

[bentanchorbolt]

That's it: they don't need to sell this or that number. They just have to be profitable and make happy those who want it. Who are another number of gamers of the ecosystem. And in some future, they will have already the know-how on VR development.

Pretty much how I see it as well. At some point VR will be big, and Sony will have already laid the R&D groundwork to profit.

 

[K2D]

The only worthwhile contribution in these trialing times..

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

That's it: they don't need to sell this or that number. They just have to be profitable and make happy those who want it.

VR on death door with this strategy, Quest 2's decline is basically crashing the market.

Eventually you are going to run out of people leaving to make profit on without a change in growth direction, otherwise every VR player left is going to be racing to grab the scraps of whatever niche audience is left.

In Japan VR is almost dead just in 2022 going from a high of 130k down to 18K on a down trend by the end of the year,

 

[kingyala]

the problem with any gaming device is the games... otherwise its just a piece of plastic, this is the problem that companies havent fixed they invest more on manufacturing the pieces of plastic and get rich schemes like subscription services, pay to win and buying up the industry like ms 60$ billion activision buyout than investing in creating more games, better games and games with new experiences.. granted psvr2 has better resolution, feels more comfortable and outputs 120 fps but where are the games? back in the days consoles came out with a bang nowadays the greedy feudal lords that control the industry only care about how much money they can suck out of our pockets than the fun they are supposed to produce to earn our pockets... really are we just going to pretend everythings fine when we have powerfull hardware but have been repeatedly just playing fortnite and the same ol crap for decades now.

 

[diffusionx]

I was really surprised when they didn't announce an Astro Bot patch for PSVR2 considering that is generally considered one of the best VR games on any platform. I agree the game lineup isn't good enough yet, they have a lot of work to do.