Sony launched the PS VR2 headset back in February of 2023, with a lot of confidence in its success. That hasn’t materialized into actual huge sales numbers, however, and today a rumor claims the company has chosen to halt production of the headset in order to clear up existing inventory.
Sony is allegedly sitting on a pretty large stockpile of PS VR2s, amid dwindling sales that have shrunk every single quarter since the headset’s release. IDC says Sony moved 595.5K units in Q1 last year, 435.5K in Q2, 343.6K in Q3, and 325.2K in Q4. Those, by the way, are deliveries to retailers, not consumers, so the actual sales to consumers numbers are probably even lower.
Sony has made “well over” 2 million PS VR2s so far, according to “people familiar with its plans”. Sales have clearly been nowhere near that mark, so pausing production does of course make sense. The more intriguing question is whether this means anything for the general mass-market demand for VR headsets that are much more reasonably priced than Apple’s Vision Pro (the PS VR2 is $550).
One of the problems for the PS VR2 might have been the availability of games for it, or rather, the lack thereof. Sony ‘s PlayStation London division, which was focused on making VR games, was weirdly shut down last month, a move which implies things won’t get any better in the future when it comes to game availability for the PS VR2. On the other hand, Sony said in February that it’s testing the ability for PS VR2 owners to access PC titles.
Developing VR games is said to come at a “substantially higher” cost than normal titles, which explains the dearth of options. Then again, gamers won’t shell out even $550 if there aren’t a lot of titles available for such a VR headset, and so we’re pretty much stuck in a circle here.
