PlayStation VR has been hard to come by since it’s late-2016 launch. The hardware add-on for the popular PlayStation 4 console that was touted to be the device to bring virtual reality to the mass market has apparently done just that. Despite Sony being unable to fulfill demand for the headset, they’ve disclosed sales figures for PlayStation VR and the tallies are totalling close to one million units.
According to a recent interview between Andrew House and New York Times, House reveals that Sony was too cautious in estimating the demand for PSVR, leaving many would be buyers either waiting for retail restocks or going to the secondary market to find a headset.
While Sony’s goal was to have sold one million headsets by mid April (six months into the life of the hardware), they appear to be tracking ahead of schedule. House also reveals that the supply drought for PlayStation VR will likely start to improve in April.
The combination of a high installed base of PlayStation 4 consoles and a more competitive price point than Oculus and HTC Vive has pushed Sony to the front of the pack when it comes to sales of VR hardware, and that trend seems like it’ll continue. Competitors Oculus VR and HTC both require that would-be buyers have a capable PC, which can costs upwards of $1000, and the pricey VR hardware as well. It’s not an entirely new narrative, but Sony’s lower cost, add-on approach seems to have worked for the company.
Regardless, one million PlayStation VR headsets in half a year is quite a feat for the company, and definitely a boon for virtual reality in general. As more consumers are able to get their hands on the hardware at retail, those numbers will likely continue to increase, but developers will need to keep churning out content for the headset to keep those that make the leap into virtual reality one that has plenty of software to dig into.
- This article was updated on March 8th, 2018
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