Sony introduced the Playstation Virtual Reality headset in September 2015, with a launch date expected for the first half of 2016. For some unknown reason, a delay occurred and the new hardware's release date was changed to October
When the PSVR released the cost for the device was set at $400, during this time the PS4, the console you needed to buy to use PSVR, cost $299 which coincided with the release of the PS4 Slim, just before PSVR's release date. Therefore, if you wanted PSVR but did not already have a PS4, you would have had to pay a premium of $700 ($800 if waited for the PS4 Pro) for both devices before any software purchases. If you had a PS4 you had to pay $400, the price the PS4 originally retailed for at launch.
Today, PSVR's base price is still $349, and the PS4 (slim) still costs $299. 6 years later if you want the PSVR experience you need to fork out $650, only a $50 discount from October 2016. The PS4 Pro which provides the best performance for VR, if you can find it, is still being sold officially at the same price point when it launched, $399. This means that if you choose to purchase a PS4 Pro you will need to fork out $750 for the PSVR experience, only $50 in savings. In theory, but in practice with inflation, you are paying $10 more than the 2016 prices, so you aren't saving any money at all and are now paying more for the PS4+PSVR than you would have 6 years ago in 2016.
Since the PSVR launched it has sold only 5 million units. Sony had pushed PSVR hard, even pulled a Microsoft Kinect and sent some of their studios to die on the platform such as Evolution Studios. Sony went to numerous 3p developers to make software for the PSVR, spent heavily on the marketing campaign, and set-up events across thousands of retail stores in US hiring demonstrators, so people could try out PSVR while they shop.
PSVR was essentially a failure. Sony's refusal to make the device more affordable shows that it wasn't generating profits, many companies that had promised to release VR headsets
or were working on them pulled out, including Sony's direct competitor Microsoft. The best selling VR back then was a Samsung Headset that was originally rushed to market and provided a compromised experience, and there were so many other companies releasing headsets and demoing them to customers that major retailers were viewing VR as a fad, and the worst part is they may not have been wrong then.
Fast forward and VR headset sales have been dominated by one company and their Quest series of headsets. The Quest 2 has already sold over 10 million devices in two years, while Sony with costly marketing, demonstrations, software deals, and internal push only sold 5 million in six years. PSVR is still costing you $350 if you have a PS4, or a low of $650 if you don't have a PS4 and buy one new.
It's obvious that Sony wanted the PSVR to be a driver for hardware sales, but this didn't happen, and I don't see how the PSVR 2 could rectify that. it will cost either the same price or more than the original at it's 2016 release, it will be compatible with the PS5 which is $200 more expensive than the PS4 slim was at the release of the original PSVR, and it's going to split Sony's first party output, which has already been hampered by delays, internal staff changes, and higher costs.
Out of 117 million PS4's sold, 5 million PSVR headsets means only 4.5% of owners used PSVR in six years. In less than 2 1/2 years PSVR sold 4.2 million units, this means that the majority of PSVR sales were front loaded and Sony hasn't reported on sales figures since announcing passing 5 million in 2020. A person who is known as Zhuge ex on the Reeeset forum claims it sold 6 million, but that number was never given by Sony, so it's up to you if you want to accept that claim, but it doesn't really change the percentage much, it just bumps it to a bit over 5% instead of 4.5%.
I do not see any benefit to PSVR 2 for Sony, I only see this having consequences for Sonys internal development, costs, and their traditional release output. Microsoft still has no interest in entering the VR field with Series X, and with the Xbox Series consoles being more competitive this gen, there will be less of an audience to sell PSVR 2 to, unlike with Xbox One vs. PS4. The original PSVR wasn't selling many PS4's off the shelves, so I doubt the PSVR 2 will for PS5's.
Assuming the PSVR2 releases at the same price as the original at $400, will consumers buy a PS5+PSVR2 combo for $900 with the disc based PS5 or $800 with the digital PS5? Don't forget that Sony games trend at $70 each, and you have to buy those with your VR headset separately.
This means a PSVR2+PS5 combo and two games would cost someone $1040 BEFORE tax. That's the price of a dead man walking.
Unless they have a surprise $200 price cut for the PS5, and Sony decides it's going to go Hulk Hogan on Xbox taking that loss PS3 style, and releasing PSVR 2 at $299 to add salt in the wound, selling millions of PSVR 2's into bankruptcy, most people aren't going to buy this.
Even the early adopters, the most hardcore of the hardcore gamers, are going to be contemplating a PC VR headset at a price that high. The Quest 2 has sold over 10 million devices and is priced for mass appeal for as low as $350. For the hardcore with good PC's, the Valve Index is $999, HP G2 is $600 but can be found at a discount, Vive Pro 2 $700, and the older PC VR headsets from years ago that were already much more powerful than PSVR, are now $500 or less new/used. That $1040 pre-tax price point for the PS5+PSVR2 doesn't appeal to casuals or the hardcore.
Keep in mind all these prices are making the assumption that it will cost the same as the original at $400, there's a strong chance that it may actually release at a higher price. I can't see how this can possibly succeed, even if the goal was only to do better than the original PSVR, I can't see 5 million PSVR 2's selling unless Sony is willing to cut its own throat to do it.
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If it will be coming in early 2023, that means likely before may and they don't think it's ready for holiday sales. That gives us a hint that there's a high probability the PSVR 2 will not match the PSVR 1;s price of $400, and instead may cost even more. But even if they do decide to match the average consumer will have no choice but to pay $900 for a PSVR2+PS5. The average consumer will likely just buy a PS5, and then reject an additional $400 premium. The original PSVR is still $349, combined with a $300 PS4 brings total spend to $650, only $250 in savings not counting the increased game prices. I feel these prices are still too high for an increase in consumer adoption, even just over the original PSVR.
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