Sony has announced that PlayStation VR 2 will launch on 22nd February 2023 with pre-orders opening on 15th November. They’ve also confirmed the pricing for the new generation VR headset and… PSVR 2 costs more than the PS5 you need to plug into it!
PSVR 2 is priced at $549.99 (pre-tax) / €599.99 / £529.99 / ¥74,980 RRP, with the bundle including the PSVR 2 headset, PSVR 2 Sense controllers and a pair of stereo headphones. Alternatively you can pick up the Horizon call of the Mountain bundle which includes the VR Horizon game, bumping up the price to $599.99 / €649.99 / £569.99 / ¥79,980.
When pre-orders go live, Sony will be taking complete control of the sales process throughout the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. In those countries, you will only be able to pre-order through the PlayStation Direct storefront, which is likely Sony’s effort to combat scalpers (albeit a rather self-serving one). Other countries will have participating retailers.
But again, that price tag. It’s high. it’s higher than the PS5 itself, which launched at $499 / €499 / £449, but now costs €549 / £479. It’s also higher than the original PSVR, which launched fro $399 / €399 / £349, albeit with the separate purchase of a camera and additional controllers required. Perhaps most damning for any hopes of reaching a true mass-market audience, it’s priced higher than the Meta Quest 2, which starts at $399 / £399 and is a fully standalone headset with the option of plugged in play.
The extra sting in the tale is that PSVR 2 is not backward compatible to original PSVR games, so you will need to buy games on top of that. Some developers have been announcing free upgrades though – there’s 11 new and upgraded games that have also been confirmed today.
Sony has, however, been struggling with the last few years of difficulties with the supply chain and the leaps in inflation and economic shifts through the past year. Their pricing is reflective of needing to build in a buffer to ensure profitability, and they are likely not applying the same loss leading principles that are often factored into console pricing.
PlayStation VR 2 will be a significant technical step forward for the platform. Here’s the rundonwn:
- Visual Fidelity: For a high-fidelity visual experience, PS VR2 offers 4K HDR, 110-degree field of view, and foveated rendering. With an OLED display, players can expect a display resolution of 2000×2040 per eye and smooth frame rates of 90/120Hz.
- Headset-based Controller Tracking: With inside-out tracking, PS VR2 tracks you and your controller through integrated cameras embedded in the VR headset. Your movements and the direction you look at are reflected in-game without the need for an external camera.
- New Sensory Features: PS VR2 Sense Technology combines eye tracking, headset feedback, 3D Audio, and the innovative PS VR2 Sense controller to create an incredibly deep feeling of immersion. Headset feedback is a new sensory feature that amplifies the sensations of in-game actions from the player. It’s created by a single built-in motor with vibrations that add an intelligent tactile element, bringing players closer to the gameplay experience. For example, gamers can feel a character’s elevated pulse during tense moments, the rush of objects passing close to the character’s head, or the thrust of a vehicle as the character speeds forward. Additionally, PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech makes sounds in the player’s surroundings come alive, adding to this new level of immersion.
- Eye Tracking: With eye tracking, PS VR2 detects the motion of your eyes, so a simple look in a specific direction can create an additional input for the game character. This allows players to interact more intuitively in new and lifelike ways, allowing for a heightened emotional response and enhanced expression that provide a new level of realism in gaming.
Source: PS Blog
MrYd
That price is a bit much. On the other hand, it’s near enough the same price as the PS5 if you assume the PS5 price is the US price. $499 converted to pounds and add VAT is £521. Or that PSVR2 US price works out at £574.71. So we get it a bit cheaper. About 8%
Not being able to pre-order it anywhere other than direct from Sony is a horrible decision though.
And they just announced 11 games for it, including some that get a free upgrade. A new Dark Pictures game that looks suspiciously like the Until Dawn: Rush of Blood VR game. I’ll look forward to being horrified by spiders again then.
Stefan L
Well, unless you’re doing currency exchange gymnastics, it’s more expensive within each respective country. We might get a slightly better exchange rate, but it’s still more expensive.
And yup, I’ve just written up the 11 games announced as well.
Nigeyboy
I wondered if they are selling it direct to take some of the hit out of how much it costs. If they are making a loss on each unit then perhaps cutting out the middle man helps.
How are people doing getting through on the pre order registration? I got an invite, but another mate hasn’t yet.
MrYd
If they’re not making a loss, then only selling it direct gives them more profit. And if they are, then it means less of a loss.
And then there’s the whole scalper thing, which they can at least be seen to be trying to do something about. Even if it’s probably not going to be a problem, really. Never really been a problem before. The PS4 was easy to get at launch. The PS5 wasn’t, but then there were other unusual events going on at the time. If they’ve got 2m+ PSVR2s for sale by March, as has been claimed, it’s really not going to be an issue.
So it’s probably just money and trying to look like they’re doing something good to solve a problem that probably won’t happen. Just really annoying if you’d prefer to buy it from somewhere else, for whatever reason. Maybe you want to pre-order it and pick it up in store on day one? Or maybe you’ve got some money in your Amazon account and want to use that?
And I’ve not had an invite yet. Maybe they’re doing it randomly and I’ll get an invite about a year after I manage to get one from elsewhere (as happened with the PS5). Or perhaps they’re doing it alphabetically, which would be great for me, being an Andy. Except they never do it that way, and it’s always surnames. And W is a long way down the list in those cases.
They’re definitely not sending the invites out to the people that would seem to deserve to be first. They know who has a PS5, who already spent lots of money on PSVR games, and even that whole stars thing they just launched should be getting you higher priority. Unless they’re working on the theory that those people will buy one anyway, so they’re trying to tempt other less likely customers to buy it first?
Nigeyboy
The invite I received is weird, looking back at the email time stamp, it came at 14:07 about 10-15 mins before I’d actually say I registered. I had so many notifications on my phone at the time from excited you tubers etc. it was hard to keep track. I’m now wondering if the invite is linked to having filled in so many previous Sony user PSVR surveys and ‘keep me updated’ mailing lists or whatever. As you say there is so much usage info tied to our PSN IDs there’s nothing to stop them giving invites out to people to tempt them.
TSBonyman
There’s also some sort of meta/psvr cross-enabling deal, some former exclusives to each platform will now be on both. That price though, understandable give global situation but still off-putting.