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[Eddie-Griffin]

https://www.techradar.com/features/psvr-2s-price-is-its-biggest-obstacle

A barrier to success

PSVR 2 has set the bar high for console-based VR. The headset boasts superb image quality, a blissfully simple setup, and, since launch, a respectable (if modest) lineup of games and ports.

I had glowing praise for PSVR 2 in my review. And I maintain that it’s an excellent companion for your PS5. But despite everything Sony’s got right with its second headset, some crucial business decisions, I feel, will prevent it from reaching its fullest potential.

The sad fact is that PSVR 2, and the very best PSVR 2 games, remain largely out of reach for the average buyer. There are a few reasons for that: a lack of exclusives and a frankly baffling omission of PS Plus content. But chiefly, the headset itself is simply too expensive, even compared to its PC and standalone peers.

PriceStation VR​

If you want to buy a PSVR 2 headset, you’re looking at shelling out $549 / £529 / AU$879, and that’s just for the headset on its own. The special Horizon: Call of the Mountain bundle will run you even more. But it’s perhaps the bundle you’ll want to opt for as PSVR 2, unlike the original PlayStation VR, doesn’t include a game.

That eye-watering price makes the PSVR 2 more expensive than the PS5. While the PSVR 2 is full of high-end tech, it’s never a good look when your peripheral is pricier than the only machine it works with.

Sony’s CFO, Hiroki Totoki, said the PSVR 2 has a “good chance” of outselling its predecessor. That’ll mean shipping over 5 million PSVR 2 units. With over 30 million PS5s in people’s homes, it’s not impossible.

However, with reportedly poor pre-order performance, and an observed lack of interest on social media, it does seem that at this early stage, PSVR 2 isn’t lighting the world on fire the same way its predecessor, or its competitors, has.

Feeling tethered
That’s a huge shame because the PSVR 2 could potentially become one of the best VR headsets. And, when it comes to console-based VR, it’s the only game in town – though, that comes with its positives and drawbacks.

PSVR 2 is uniquely positioned to set the standard for future console-based VR attempts. And in terms of providing a quality product, Sony has achieved exactly that. Both Horizon: Call of the Mountain and Gran Turismo 7 provide uniquely brilliant VR experiences, a cut above the often ‘tech demo’ feel of the VR space.

On the flip side, those are the only PSVR 2 exclusives we currently have. And I hope in the years to come, PSVR 2’s library will bloom into one that rivals the Oculus Quest 2’s.

PSVR 2’s console dependence is as much of a hindrance as a boon. Its closest competitors, the Quest 2 and Pico 4, are standalone and compatible with PC. In both cases, you have more options for how and what you want to play. That, and you’re paying considerably less for both headsets.

The iron price​

And so we circle back to PSVR 2’s price. While I think a price drop for PSVR 2 would be in Sony’s best interests if it wants to sell more units in the long run, I don’t see it happening. At least not for a couple of years. Especially when you see how firm Sony has been holding off on PS5 discounts.

But if the manufacturer is adamant about maintaining PSVR 2’s current retail price, it must start offering more than what we’re getting out of the box. Offering PSVR 2 games through PS Plus’s Game Catalog would be an excellent start.

A fantastic way to bolster the growth of the PS Plus library would be to add PSVR 2 games to its Game Catalog

Xbox Game Pass has been a huge success for Microsoft, offering a vast library of games playable from start to finish at the cost of a monthly subscription. It’s less focused on the concept of ‘try before you buy’, and more ‘try instead of buy’. The purpose of Game Pass doesn’t appear to sell more games, but rather to create a catalog to hold you on the console, subscribing each month to have access to more titles to dive into for a few hours at a time.

PS Plus’s 2022 revamp is achieving the same, and is only getting better as its library grows. A fantastic way to bolster that growth would be to add PSVR 2 games to the Game Catalog, or at least as part of the service’s monthly free games program. If I knew I was getting one or two PSVR 2 games a month at no extra cost, I’d be inclined to engage with the headset more.

While their point of maybe including PSVR2 games into PS Plus is decently reasonable "PriceStation VR"? Is that the best line they could come up with over there? Also they are citing the Bloomberg article that Sony themselves said wasn't true.

With that being said, while everyone knows it's not cheap, I don't really get the logic here with TechRadar here, where they say Sony should give more than what comes in the box which makes sense, but then their example PS Plus., which doesn't make sense.

Most likely at minimum if not premium, they would put VR games under Extra, which is $14.99 a month, and $99 for a year. That would be on TOP of the $549, so their solution for Sony to give gamers more out the box to justify PSVR2's price, is to pay MORE money? Even if they put it on essential, it would still be gamers paying an extra $60.

That doesn't sound like that would fix the price problem imo.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Has it been a month yet?....I've never seen the tide turn on something this fast...its like a negative article a day.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Love mine, despite not having much free time to play everything I'd like to.

 

[Kev Kev]

I honestly can't wait to pick one up. It'd be nice if it were cheaper but that's not going to stop me. VR is the future of gaming for me. I don't want to play any game flatscreen, if I can help it.

 

[nial]

Has it been a month yet?....I've never seen the tide turn on something this fast...its like a negative article a day.

((they)) want it to fail.

 

[midnightAI]

Has it been a month yet?....I've never seen the tide turn on something this fast...its like a negative article a day.

Don't you mean it's a clickbait title a day? The article itself (other than whinging about price ... again) is mostly positive about the headset itself.

 

[Corndog]

((they)) want it to fail.

Or it’s too exspensive. And Sony is letting it fail.

 

[midnightAI]

Or it’s too exspensive. And Sony is letting it fail.

Yes, that's why they released it, they want it to fail, why not, makes perfect business sense

 

[rabbity-thing]

I will continue to post this because it bears repeating.

At least in the US (not sure about other regions) you still can NOT purchase the PSVR2 in stores. In fact, you can only purchase it direct from Sony. Any talk of price (or anything else really) in regards number of sales is secondary to the current lack of availability to the general public.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I will continue to post this because it bears repeating.

At least in the US (not sure about other regions) you still can NOT purchase the PSVR2 in stores. In fact, you can only purchase it direct from Sony. Any talk of price (or anything else really) in regards number of sales is secondary to the current lack of availability to the general public.

That is weird. Is it a margin reason?

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I will continue to post this because it bears repeating.

At least in the US (not sure about other regions) you still can NOT purchase the PSVR2 in stores. In fact, you can only purchase it direct from Sony. Any talk of price (or anything else really) in regards number of sales is secondary to the current lack of availability to the general public.

This is also an issue given the US is the biggest VR market far and away. It seems this applies to a few countries.

Sure there are some where they have them in stores, and even a few where they have demos, but the headset isn't as accessible in the regions that would buy the headset the most.

Unless Sony's marketing and strategy has made it so that direct sales are high enough, that they don't need to do what they did with PSVR1.

Q1 for VR is ending, so whether Sony gives us numbers or not the firms will release the global data so we should find out the sales in a couple days to see how it's doing.

 

[midnightAI]

That is weird. Is it a margin reason?

Most likely due to the huge scalping issue they had with the PS5 especially in the US and UK. I'd expect them to be sold in stores in the near future.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Most likely due to the huge scalping issue they had with the PS5 especially in the US and UK

Direct wouldn't really fix that once they had pre-orders opened up with no invites or limits.

Also PSVR1 didn't have a sculpting issue at all, Scalpers don't seem to be interested in VR, if they try it will probably be for Quest 3 or for the Apple headset.

 

[midnightAI]

Direct wouldn't really fix that once they had pre-orders opened up with no invites or limits.

Also PSVR1 didn't have a sculpting issue at all, Scalpers don't seem to be interested in VR, if they try it will probably be for Quest 3 or for the Apple headset.

Scalpers are interested in anything that can make them a profit.
PS4 didn't have scalping issues anywhere near PS5 levels and scalping is getting worse (look at graphics cards for example)

I bet scalpers will go after Quest 3 and especially Apples headset (although the high price, if $3000 may actually be of a benefit and put scalpers off as it could be a big risk, but big gains if it pays off)

There's probably many reasons they are doing it this way (better control of stock, quicker data on sales, possibly cheaper/higher profit etc.), but I reckon prevent scalpers is part of it.

 

[K2D]

VR's (in general and not only PSVR2's, to its appraisal) biggest obstacle is the barrier of user engagement.

-Can I use my phone with headset on?
-Can I see people in my irl surroundings?
-Can I engage with people online? Is there a social app?
-Is the [system wide user interface] intuitive? Is it VR or flat?
-How 'motion sickness' inducing is the individual headset? Is the library of games curated to mitigate experiences with motion sickness?

etc

 

[Iced Arcade]

I will continue to post this because it bears repeating.

At least in the US (not sure about other regions) you still can NOT purchase the PSVR2 in stores. In fact, you can only purchase it direct from Sony. Any talk of price (or anything else really) in regards number of sales is secondary to the current lack of availability to the general public.

must be a US thing. available in Canadian stores/sites (price kills it here though)

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/playstation-vr2-horizon-call-of-the-mountain-vr-bundle/16593427?cmp=seo-16593427

 

[DryvBy]

I'm loving mine. I was playing for a few hours just today.

 

[Minsc]

VR's (in general and not only PSVR2's, to its appraisal) biggest obstacle is the barrier of user engagement.

-Can I use my phone with headset on?
-Can I see people in my irl surroundings?
-Can I engage with people online? Is there a social app?
-Is the [system wide user interface] intuitive? Is it VR or flat?
-How 'motion sickness' inducing is the individual headset? Is the library of games curated to mitigate experiences with motion sickness?

etc

I feel like the Apple VR will actually pass all these tests, and your phone use will be a combination of virtual/physical - like it will probably be able to overlay the actual phone UI in the VR set right on the phone itself in realtime or something, so you can be using your phone with the headset on, and have the same control and precision as if it were off. Along with a emphasis on social aspect I'd imagine, probably some sort of VR facetime?

I disagree with price being the biggest obstacle though, well maybe at $3000, but it's the product design itself (form factor, comfort, ease of use) combine with the game library - a successful product would need hundreds of appealing games, comparable to what console/PC offers. Both these aspects fall very short, even if the games VR does deliver on are experiences beyond what you get on a console, there's just not enough of them. And the headsets aren't easy enough to use and comfortable enough to wear and good enough to look at, there's just too many faults.

But maybe that's where the next generation of headsets will pick up the bar.

 

[Yoboman]

Or it’s too exspensive. And Sony is letting it fail.

Expensive compared to what?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

How many Sega CDs and Turbo CDs sold? Probably not too many since they cost more than the console itself, even though it had CD quality sound, the games looked better (tosns of extra meg space helps), the big trend in FMV and cut scenes and they even doubled up as a CD player.

Wii sold a ton, but for $250 you get an entire system with a free game thrown in. By the time MS and Sony did their waggle motion gaming for about $100 worth of add-ons gadgets, how many did they sell? And those sold at a fraction of the price of VR sets. And how often did people do motion gaming afterwards?

Someone will say.... but that's different. VR is way different and better than the emergence of optical system add-ons and Wii/Kinect/Move. The 360 goggles make it much better.

Is it? Maybe. But cant be that great since VR gaming isn't lighting the gaming world on fire. As Meta's own statement said last year (Oct 2022), half the VR users stop using it after 6 months. And games are cheap too, so it's not a $70 game price issue. Most of the games seem around $20. VR gamers should be stockpiling endless games for years of playing if the games are so affordable. Instead half are collecting dust already. So you can see, it's not great gaming.

Only time you hear about VR games in this forum is when someone brings up HL Alyx, GT7, RE8 and recently Moss. There's probably hundreds of games and almost none of them are mentioned. Probably because 99% of them are indie quality or crap. When Job Sim and Beat Saber are the marquee games to promote $500-1500 headsets the past 8 years of VR gaming, you got trouble.

 

[THE DUCK]

I thought I had pre-ordered but I found out I didn't. Then I was going to buy one on day one since they were available day one, but was busy. Now I'm past the "must have" and envy of the day one posts, the urgency has past, however I must admit, I still want to try it out.

But I have to admit, price is a factor in the decision. $750 Canadian is no impulse purchase. Its high value proposition in regards to great hardware vs other headsets is irrelevant when the decision is to get it or not, not which one to get.

Some ps plus content would help the value proposition a bit, never really thought about that.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I thought I had pre-ordered but I found out I didn't. Then I was going to buy one on day one since they were available day one, but was busy. Now I'm past the "must have" and envy of the day one posts, the urgency has past, however I must admit, I still want to try it out.

But I have to admit, price is a factor in the decision. $750 Canadian is no impulse purchase. Its high value proposition in regards to great hardware vs other headsets is irrelevant when the decision is to get it or not, not which one to get.

Some ps plus content would help the value proposition a bit, never really thought about that.

After tax, it's more like $850 (unless someone lives in Alberta).

Oddly, it doesn't even seem VR sets even include pack in games like the motion gaming era. To get people to excited, you'd think they try selling the hardware by tossing in some decent $20 starter games.

 

[THE DUCK]

After tax, it's more like $850 (unless someone lives in Alberta).

Oddly, it doesn't even seem VR sets even include pack in games like the motion gaming era. To get people to excited, you'd think they try selling the hardware by tossing in some decent $20 starter games.

Yes that's about what it is here with tax. I think they could have at least included horizon at the $750 price instead of trying to grab for $70 more.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Yes that's about what it is here with tax. I think they could have at least included horizon at the $750 price instead of trying to grab for $70 more.

(I was in the middle of responding to your prior post, but since I saw you replied to my partial post which I added more, I cut and pasted it below.... so I'm not that fast of a typer!)

For consoles and motion gadgets, history shows sometimes there's pack in games, sometimes not. Special bundle boxes always come out at some point. At least with consoles, a casual gamer knows there's shit loads of familiar franchises to pick from. So after buying a console, they can pick and choose whichever batch of starter games they want. So if it's Mario or FIFA or COD at least they can focus on something they know.

With VR, most games will be totally unfamiliar ground. And for a casual gamer even more unfamiliar. So expecting tons of gamers to buy VR at a high price and go in blindly buying games is a weird strategy.

 

[THE DUCK]

(I was in the middle of responding to your prior post, but since I saw you replied to my partial post which I added more, I cut and pasted it below.... so I'm not that fast of a typer!)

For consoles and motion gadgets, history shows sometimes there's pack in games, sometimes not. Special bundle boxes always come out at some point. At least with consoles, a casual gamer knows there's shit loads of familiar franchises to pick from. So after buying a console, they can pick and choose whichever batch of starter games they want. So if it's Mario or FIFA or COD at least they can focus on something they know.

With VR, most games will be totally unfamiliar ground. And for a casual gamer even more unfamiliar. So expecting tons of gamers to buy VR at a high price and go in blindly buying games is a weird strategy.

True for many, won't know what they will like at first. For me, it's not as many exclusives, already owing a quest 2 I've played a lot of the "mini game" type games already. It's the horizon, re and gt7 that has my interest.
One thing about gt7, at least for me, is at least I wouldn't have to buy that to play it in vr.

May cave yet on a shoppers 20x day.....

 

[Rambone]

I feel the device is appropriately priced however there are not enough games I would be personally interested in. I own a Quest 2 and VR capable PC, so naturally I would not be interested in playing ports of games that I already own on either the Quest or SteamVR. The Quest 2 is serviceable as a PC VR headset and has many convenient features. I wouldn't mind picking up a PSVR-2 to play GT7 and Resident Evil games but my money is probably better spent upgrading to the Quest 3 when it comes out. I'd consider a PSVR2 in the future when more exclusives are available (hopefully ones I'm interested in), it gets SteamVR support or becomes cheaper which will justify a purchase from me to enjoy the very few games I'm likely to be interested in.

So basically what killed it for me:
1) lack of games, too many games I've already played on other devices, too many games I don't care about.
2) PS-VR2 is not compatible with SteamVR/PC
3) I'm already balls deep in SteamVR/Quest Ecosystems.

 

[Corndog]

Yes, that's why they released it, they want it to fail, why not, makes perfect business sense

Where did I say they wanted it to fail? Maybe brush up on your semantics.

 

[Nocturno999]

No must have titles are hurting it too.

Amazing that Sony still doesn't learn from this.

 

[Fbh]

No must have titles are hurting it too.

Amazing that Sony still doesn't learn from this.

I don't think that they don't get it.
Its just that spending a ton of money and putting their top talent to work on VR doesn't make sense when they could invest that same money, time and talent on a regular Ps5 game and get a much higher return on their investment.

One could argue they need to invest in bigger games to attract a bigger audience but a $550 accesory to a $500 console will always have a limited appeal

Best case scenario they could make VR modes for some of their regular games like GT7. Though I think that would limit their "system seller" status because you can still experience them on a regular ps5 without having to spend another $550 on a headset

 

[consoul]

Bugatti's price is its biggest obstacle.

 

[Crayon]

Sony won't sell as many as my secret number. Checkmate.

 

[JaksGhost]

Bro just create a mega thread for this shit since you keep using the same source. It’s funny that the site even groups it together at the bottom of this thread.

 

[Fess]

Most likely at minimum if not premium, they would put VR games under Extra, which is $14.99 a month, and $99 for a year. That would be on TOP of the $549, so their solution for Sony to give gamers more out the box to justify PSVR2's price, is to pay MORE money? Even if they put it on essential, it would still be gamers paying an extra $60.

You don’t pay more unless you’re not playing anything. The whole point with PS+ Extra/Premium is to have a bigger library of games than you would have if you bought everything individually and then pay a small monthly fee. Would be perfect for VR since everything is already small and experimental which is what people already assume comes through subscription services.

 

[nowhat]

Eddie-Griffin do you like Jamiroquai?

I just thought you might, you seem to be a huge fan of "Virtual Insanity" at least.

 

[Ozriel]

With that being said, while everyone knows it's not cheap, I don't really get the logic here with TechRadar here, where they say Sony should give more than what comes in the box which makes sense, but then their example PS Plus., which doesn't make sense.

Most likely at minimum if not premium, they would put VR games under Extra, which is $14.99 a month, and $99 for a year. That would be on TOP of the $549, so their solution for Sony to give gamers more out the box to justify PSVR2's price, is to pay MORE money? Even if they put it on essential, it would still be gamers paying an extra $60.

That doesn't sound like that would fix the price problem imo.

Many PSVR early adopters are strong PS fans who’ve embraced Plus. They’d have access to the games on their sub.
You’re also acting like there’s no monthly option for PS Plus. Nobody needs to remain subscribed for months to play a VR game. Even a one month sub is enough for players to try out games instead of forking out $30 on top of the $549 PSVR2.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

No, the price is not an obstacle, as evidenced by millions of iPhones and iPads Apple sells with cheaper Android alternatives available.
People will pay if there are compelling experiences aka games.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

sure. it should get cheaper eventually. (hopefully, the software will be there when that happens)

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

No, the price is not an obstacle, as evidenced by millions of iPhones and iPads Apple sells with cheaper Android alternatives available.
People will pay if there are compelling experiences aka games.

wat?
1.Smartphones are essential.
2.android sells more around thw world.

3. There are different ways to "buy" smartphones

 

[Fess]

No, the price is not an obstacle, as evidenced by millions of iPhones and iPads Apple sells with cheaper Android alternatives available.
People will pay if there are compelling experiences aka games.

Idk, it’s $700 in my area, I think it’s a problem. But yeah the games output is the biggest problem, goes for VR in general.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

wat?
1.Smartphones are essential.
2.android sells more around thw world.

3. There are different ways to "buy" smartphones

Smartphones are essential, a $200 one does the job almost as well as a $1000 iPhone, yet people buy iPhones.

What I meant to say ‘it’s too expensive’ is never the answer - ‘it doesn’t give enough to justify the price’ is. You increase that (games) and you increase demand.

 

[Justin9mm]

The PSVR2 is impressive, I own one, I like it, is it worth the price tag? No! Actually, I didn't pay for mine but that's another story.

Coming from PCVR, the haptics, eye tracking, foveated rendering, OLED screen etc. Are all cool but still doesn't justify the hefty price tag to me. I can't help but feel like the launch consumers are paying for the R&D they put into this thing.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Smartphones are essential, a $200 one does the job almost as well as a $1000 iPhone, yet people buy iPhones.

and this is why android is waaaaay popular.

What I meant to say ‘it’s too expensive’ is never the answer - ‘it doesn’t give enough to justify the price’ is. You increase that (games) and you increase demand.

sure. to a certain extent.

 

[chromatic9]

Of course Sony want it to succeed but at this stage they're realistic in trying to release a higher quality VR experience so those early adopters have something they want to use for longer periods. The tech and designs will have to filter down for the next 10-20 years and people will have to grow into using it. Sony won't gain anything by releasing a $200 headset.

All they can do at this moment is give their own customers a decent VR experience and keep it trucking along. If PC VR or other companies want to lead the way then go right ahead. It's going to take multiple companies and ideas to keep it going for a long time yet and to become viable.

 

[Venom Snake]

 

[DenchDeckard]

I will continue to post this because it bears repeating.

At least in the US (not sure about other regions) you still can NOT purchase the PSVR2 in stores. In fact, you can only purchase it direct from Sony. Any talk of price (or anything else really) in regards number of sales is secondary to the current lack of availability to the general public.

Same in the UK.

Needs to get into high streets etc shortly so we can see a boost in sales.

 

[TheDreadLord]

((they)) want it to fail.

Or Sony is not paying the “influencers” enough.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Are they not selling these in stores? I was at a gamestop during my lunch break and the dude told me you can only order direct from Sony. Is that true?

 

[Beechos]

Price is def an obstacle I just spent $700 on the psvr 2 and 3 games. Everyone says the price is fair for the tech which it is. The high end market though is usually the smallest customer base.

Imagine if amd and nvidia only sold you their most expensive video card how many people would buy one then.

 

[V1LÆM]

an accessory that is more expensive that the main product? great idea

PS5 here is £480. I ain't paying £520 for a headset lmfao. should be £350-400. It's not worth the price at all.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Wow. I didn't even realize this device even released yet.