After a long wait, on Tuesday 15th March 2016, Sony’s Entertainment and PlayStation division announced the price and availability of the consumer version of its PlayStation VR headset at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. PlayStation VR will be available for consumers in October this year for the retail price of $399.99 (£349.99, Euro 399.99, AUD $549.95, NZ $ 629.25). PlayStation VR will lead the price race ahead of its big competitors in the console/PC based VR headset market - Oculus Rift ($599) and HTC Vive ($799). The PlayStation VR device is designed for use with the PlayStation 4 console while the Oculus Rift and Vive both require connection to an expensive high-end gaming PC.
Sony’s PlayStation VR device, processor unit and accessories. Source: Sony
According to Strategy Analytics’ Connected Home Device “Global Game Console Forecast” report 53.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles will be in use globally by the end of 2016, giving Sony an early advantage over its competitors in terms of the size of the addressable market for its VR headset. By contrast we estimate that only 15-20 million high-end gaming PCs will be in use by the end of the year. However, in order to use PS VR consumers will be required to purchase a PS camera (assuming they don’t already have one) for around $60. PlayStation VR will come with an HDMI cable, a USB cable, stereo earbuds, add-on processor box, an AC power adapter and cord, and PS VR headset connection adapter. We have compared the three major console/PC VR device packages in the table below:
In addition to the price and launch date PlayStation also announced that there will be 50 PS VR games available by the end of 2016. More than 230 developers are working on content for PS VR. In addition to this, the Playroom (Sony’s own studio in Japan) will release six games that will be available for free to PlayStation VR owners. Aside from gaming, PS VR will have the additional ability to allow users to watch 360 degree movie and image based content.
Strategy Analytics’ Connected Home Devices service will be publishing detailed forecasts on the dedicated Virtual Reality headset market in the coming weeks.