Is PlayStation going to drop its VR service?

Sony and PlayStation are used to being pioneers when it comes to technology and the gaming realm. However, it doesn’t always work out as expected. One recent example that we’re going to look at in the future (or lack thereof) today is the PS VR 2.

It was released back in 2023 to try and establish and cement a strong position within the landscape of the emerging virtual reality market. However, it found itself up against some very fierce competition, such as the Meta Quest and the Oculus Rift. The difference with the PS VR is that it wasn’t just the likes of Microsoft and the Xbox they were up against; it was other technology giants from other sectors of the industry.

How were the sales?

And the sales of the PS VR 2 were very disappointing, to say the least. To the point where they have stopped manufacturing any more as they have a backlog of stock they want and need to sell before they can start producing more. And it’s difficult to pinpoint one exact reason for its failure. Instead, it can be pointed to a few different areas.

Firstly, you have the price, which was $500, which is quite expensive when you consider that it is just an accessory for the console rather than a standalone device. Other devices on the market meant that they could be used anywhere but the PS VR 2 needed to be connected to your PS5. However, there are some good games and social features on the VR, including being able to play live casino.

A fierce competitor

You also had the release of Apple Vision Pro. As we all know, Apple has a huge following of devoted and loyal followers who will line up to buy any new piece of technology that is released by the company. They have been that successful and with their marketing and customer retention, they have recently become a trillion-dollar company. Although they also have to look in-house at some of the errors they made that contributed to the poor sales of PS VR 2, And this is down to the changes they made in the first installment of their VR franchise.

Game compatibility issues

What we mean by this is that despite being its successor, if you purchase a PS VR 2, it doesn’t have any access to any of the library of games from the first VR headset. A lot of people highly rated the first VR headset that Sony released and equally liked some of the hit games that were released along with it, such as Astro Bot and Star Wars Squadrons. And if you’re a big fan of these games, you’d quite comfortably assume you would still be able to access them on the PS VR 2 but that is not the case at all.

In Summary

And so, with production halted and sales at an all-time low, what does the future hold for Sony’s VR franchise? Well, there is no solid confirmation yet. But sales don’t look promising to pick up rapidly anytime soon without a cut to the price, which of course would eat into the business’s profits and could eventually end up costing the business instead of making a small profit so we can expect some announcements later this year.

If you weren’t aware of what the PS VR 2 was and what the current landscape of the VR industry is and its place within the market at the moment, then hopefully this has shed some light for you. If they are to continue with the VR franchise,, Sony is going to have to to hugely step up their game and find innovation from somewhere in order to make their bounce back from glory and start to get the sales rolling once again.