PSVR Sales Not Growing Much in Relation to Playstation 4 Install Base

This week Sony is touting strong sales for the Playstation 4, along with sales of its VR peripheral, the PSVR. As expected, the PSVR install base is now at 5 million, making it the most popular mid-to-premium virtual reality headset on the market. So that's a milestone of some kind. 

Then again, it also reveals a troubling pattern: The PSVR install base is not expanding. Look:

Last March, Sony announced PSVR sales of 4.2 million. A few months after that, Sony announced PS4 sales of 100 million. So back then, PVSR had reached about 4% of its total potential market.

Now Sony is announcing PSVR sales of 5 million and PS4 sales of 106 million. So at the moment, PSVR has reached... about 5% of its total potential market.

So a 1% increase! With so many great VR games on the market, and Sony offering the PSVR bundled with several game options, I'd have expected a much stronger spike than that. For one reason or another, 100 million people are collectively saying "nah".

It is still possible we'll eventually see a spike when and if the PSVR cost goes down much further -- say $199.99 or even $99.99, versus the current $299.99 MSRP‎.

But until then, it's safer to assume VR remains a niche activity on consoles. For now, at least, the PSVR seems more like the Rock Band of this generation: A pricey hardware peripheral that takes video games out of their traditional context to offer fun new forms of interactivity, but doesn't become mass market enough to evolve into a viable new platform.

Comments

[camilia fid3lis nee Patchouli Woollahra]

Sony's puritanism with regards to what content it'll allow on its console proper, let alone PSVR, is possibly a factor in this regard as well. A significant amount of VR developers are working on experiences that contain content that would not be accepted under PS guidelines. Not necessary even raunchy, maybe even merely fanservice at most. This has locked a lot of Japanese developers to working with PC VR.
Another factor depressing PSVR sales may be rumors of a new-generation PSVR headset with a wireless connection coming out soon this year. Wireless headsets are becoming a liberating factor in VR systems, with getting choked, tripped or hamstrung by the cord a common fear in many full-body setups an attractive feature. (not necessarily roomscale as long as the player is free to turn around and move around a lot even if only in a spot)

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/new-sony-patent-reveals-a-wireless-psvr-headset-could-be-on-the-way/

[Tyler D.]

There's just no way around it: $299 is a lot for a console peripheral (it's more than the cost of the base PS4). Until Sony slashes the MSRP to $99 impulse buy / bundle pack-in pricing, I don't think they'll move many more units.

For people willing to spend $300+ on mid-range VR, the Quest now offers more flexibility and functionality (in an arguably better ecosystem) for ~$100 more-- as a complete standalone package.

That said, it's worth remembering that the PS4 is the 2nd best-selling console of all-time so a 5% install base isn't shabby in terms of units sold.

I wish Microsoft would make the Series X compatible with Windows MxR and Oculus headsets somehow. It's essentially a powerful PC running Windows, so the level of effort for MS would be negligible compared to building their own headset (which they've made clear they have no interest in doing).

[Wagner James Au]

Yeah good points. To continue my Rock Band analogy, that game/hardware peripheral is (still!) priced at around $299-349. That's a pretty steep commitment for gamers who aren't sure how long they're going to stick with that very specific kind of gameplay. No surprise the franchise has really waned. Which is too bad, I had expected it to become a huge popcult phenomenon.