Sony’s PlayStation VR headset has passed a fresh milestone, they announced at CES 2020, with the virtual reality add on for the PlayStation 4 now having sold over 5 million units since its launch in late 2016. The PS4, meanwhile, has kept forging ahead to hit 106 million sales.
The PSVR sales update is the first we’ve had since the start of last year, and passing the 5 million mark is great news that shows that there is still a significant, if niche audience for VR. However, iet does also demonstrate that PSVR sales have plateaued and started to tail off.
The last we heard, the console had shifted 4.2 million units by March 2019, having sold 1.2 million through the Black Friday and Christmas period since August 2018. With a longer period of time that includes another Black Friday and Christmas selling period, it could only muster a further 800,000. This is now the slowest rate at which the headset has sold since it was launched.
That’s despite a strong year for PSVR in general. Sony supported it quite well through 2019 with first party games like Everybody’s Golf VR and Blood & Truth joined by third party games Golem and Deemo Reborn, not to mention No Man’s Sky getting a full VR mode. However, you could easily argue that there’s wasn’t anything on the level of Resident Evil 7 or a big price drop to help spur on sales.
It’s likely the future that has also had an impact. There’s big ticket games like Iron Man VR and post-launch support planned for Dreams, but eyes are looking to the future and PlayStation 5. Though that console will have compatibility to PSVR, there are also consistent rumours about PSVR 2, so it could be that gamers are already saving up their pennies for the next generation.
Speaking of PlayStation 5, Sony teased fans with another tiny little tidbit about the game, revealing the console’s surprising, shocking new logo.
Source: SIE
MrYd
I’m not entirely convinced it’s as bad as some people are making out. Mainly due to the “over 5 million” thing.
If the last figures were 1.2 million in 7 months, and it’s another 800,000 in 10 months, that’s not as good. Still pretty impressive for an expensive console accessory though. But going from 170k a month to 80k wouldn’t be surprising with the PS5 coming and a PSVR2 coming at some point after that.
But “over 5 million” is very vague. What’s the real figure? If you take the historically surprisingly accurate method of “42 PSVRs sold for every member of r/PSVR on Reddit”, you get about 5.5 million. Or 130k a month. Only dropped by 25% instead of almost 50%
Is a big price drop possible before the PS5 releases? Could a PSVR2 appear sooner than everyone expects? Looks like some strong competition from the Oculus Quest at the moment. Decent standalone VR that seems to work well when connected to a PC too, and sold out everywhere. Sony need to get something new out with the next 18 months or so.
Stefan L
Jim Ryan’s exact words were that PSVR “has reached its 5 million unit sales milestone.” The caveat being that it’s an estimate based on their internal tracking up to 31st December.
Considering that they shared to one decimal point last time, I’d assume it’s likely closer to the 5 million mark and that sales have at best remained steady.
MrYd
It’s actually increasing as a percentage of PS4s sold. When they’d sold 2m PSVRs, it was 2.6% of PS4s. Then 3.6% at 3m and now it’s 4.7%.
Obviously the number of PS4s being sold is going to drop in the last year before the PS5, but I don’t think PSVR is going to tail off quite so quickly just yet.
There could also be a huge jump in that percentage for the PS5, assuming it really does end up being backwards compatible. I’m guessing the people rushing out to buy a PS5 are more likely to have already invested in VR. Could be quite a significant number of PS5 owners with PSVR by the end of the year. (Obviously that percentage will go down fairly quickly too, once the PS5 starts selling loads)
Tuffcub
Who on earth is saying it’s bad? PSVR is thrashing the arse off every other VR device.
Spank those people who are saying it’s bad. They are stupid.
Dan Jones
I really didn’t think PSVR would take off, it’s a pricey but of kit, but I must say it is absolutely brilliant. Have just started Blood and Truth which is the best experience I’ve had with VR so far. Love headmasters too as a big football fan. It’s just a shame I suffer from motion sickness after 30mins using it, but I generally suffer from motion sickness so I think it’s unfair to blame PSVR completely.
MrYd
30 minutes is more than some people can manage. Just keep at it and you may well get used to it. Just don’t try and force yourself to keep playing when you start to feel dodgy. And don’t believe all those options that claim to make it more comfortable. They might have the opposite effect. Teleport movement just confuses me, and suddenly restricting my field of view when I’m moving just feels unpleasant. Try fiddling with comfort options and see what works for you. What have you got to lose? Apart from, possibly, your lunch.
Dan Jones
Yeah, it’s getting better. Just took some time trying to figure out which games trigger it more. The on the rails shooters are probably the most comfortable, like Blood and Truth. Driveclub and wipeout though, recipe for disaster. Worst by far though for me was Robinson’s the Journey! Going forward I’m just going to keep the games I know I’ll enjoy and be comfortable with.
Dan Jones
I didn’t even know they were comfort settings either, oops. I’ll give it a go when I’m next on the VR, thanks