Exclusive: PSVR 2 sales surge over 2,000% after Sony's huge price drop

There was pent up demand for PSVR 2 at a better price among PS5 gamers, according to our data. Here's the story of how a $200 price drop suddenly made PSVR 2 the most sought-after VR headset.

[Babadook7]

Wow. Smart move Sony! A new lease on life by the look of it. (sorry professional naysayers)

[ChasterMies]

Also possible that Sony released PSVR2 at a higher price because they knew early adopters would pay it. I was one of the day one purchasers, and I have no problem with that pricing model. (I usually buy later, cheaper.)\

[Babadook7]

I’m in the same boat. I don’t mind being an early adopter usually, but with VR it is especially worth it IMO. At my age I love the how unique it is to play gran turismo and resident evil in VR.

[Cacabunga]

I would buy it if I find one.. I almost did during days of play and I’m glad I didn’t

[Mulando]

That wouldn't be a smart move because sales so far were really bad. And companies decide to make games for a system also based on sales numbers. So many companies have already decided not to invest in VR games. The hype is long gone an currently it more or less seems the want to get rid of their units in stock.

[StormSnooper]

It simply costs a lot to make such a device. They needed to impress, and they did. The rest is a calculation of market supply/demand forces. Don’t forget that people these days don’t have as much funds to spend because of all the inflation. Everything is more expensive and people simply don’t have as much as they used to.

[CrimsonIdol]

It cost too much and it was needlessly shackled to the PS5 without being able to use it on PC as well. Fair criticisms, and both of these things have now been addressed and unsurprisingly it's suddenly doing better. Though the lack of eye tracked foveated rendering on PC seems like a bit of a missed opportunity, but hopefully that's something that can be addressed post launch.

[TheEroica]

Lol.... Joking right? It's dead as a doornail. They've conned you twice.....

[Neonridr]

let's wait and see what this does first before claiming anything.

[DarXyde]

Welp, looks like you called it in the other topic.

https://n4g.com/news/261321...

My argument was software, yours was sales.

It remains to be seen how long this lasts, but it looks like you've called it.

Cheers, mate.

[Outlawzz]

Sony have really disappointed with vr this Gen so far. It doesn't compare to quest 3 tbh. I have both and the quest is miles ahead with content available to the point I was about to sell my psvr2 this week coincidentally lol now there's a price drop I wasn't aware of, makes me wish I made the decision a bit sooner.

[S2Killinit]

Right because the other console makers are the ones that did a great job with VR.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Just because Microsoft and Nintendo don't do VR doesn't suddenly make that a gotcha moment.

Sony lowering the price this much admits that this was a flop and they needed to fix things pronto. PSVR 1 was a great first step, especially for PS4-level VR. PSVR 2 was handed the baton and dropped it, but it's not a permanent mistake. If they also figure out a way to get PSVR 1 games to be compatible with it, that would be huge since it was one of the biggest flaws along with the price.

[OneLove]

Lmao what kind of logic is this. The guy said quest 3 and you bring up other consoles manufacturers🤣

[IceCreamSandwich5]

What do other console makers have to do with this? LOL

[S2Killinit]

I’ll tell you this. If I’ve had the BEST gaming on PSVR2, I REALLY don’t give a hoot about why they dropped the price. (Maybe they dropped it since it will now be compatible with PC)

Also, since now it will be compatible with PC, it will play PC games ON TOP OF PS5 games. So, I’m pretty sure they dont really need PSVR1 compatibility as well any more. Besides, if you actually had a PSVR2 you would know that PSVR2 already has the best of PSVR1 re-released on it (except for Astrobot for some odd reason)

@onelove
And yet I bet that if I check your comment history, you are a hardcore xbox guy. You lot bash PSVR2 not because it’s a flop, but because you can’t have one. I just thought I bring it ip to rub it in your face. (:

[darthv72]

@Slaughter... I wish Sony would make more VR1 games compatible with VR2. One of my favorites is Rush of Blood. To have that work in the VR2 with the better controllers would be fantastic. I upgraded both Rez and Thumper to VR2... why no RoB Sony???

[DodoDojo]

This guy is basically Playstation Obscure.

[StormSnooper]

@DodoDojo
Says the guy who has 20 comments in his history (most of it in this article). But somehow knows Obscure. lol

How the hell do you know about Obscure then? You sure you aren’t Obscure yourself?

[Babadook7]

VR2 beats quest 3 in the following ways

Better blacks
Better HDR
Wider FOV
Foveated rendering improves visual quality a lot.
The native graphics on games is far better PSVR2
There are no games on quest close to as good as the best software for VR2.
PCVR will also probably be better on the Sony hardware.

Add price to that list now too.

Overall I can’t imagine making the choice you’re making Outlawz 🤷‍♂️

[attilayavuzer]

Sony still doing the whole non replaceable controllers thing?

[Neonridr]

it's all subjective, while from a technical standpoint the PSVR2 is more advanced, the Q3 has the ease of use factor, not to mention completely wireless (with the option of linking to your PC via a cable or wirelessly for improved visuals / performance).

It's the reason why the Switch was so successful, it wasn't because of it's 4K resolution.

The PSVR2 has got a better panel being OLED, so colors will look more vibrant, sure. Foveated rendering means you only get a high quality image in the small area you are looking, that isn't necessarily something to brag about, it's to reduce processing load. on the Q3 you get the full resolution of the headset across the entire screen, so it looks clear even in your peripherals. And while the PSVR2 has a higher resolution screen, 95% of games don't come anywhere near that resolution.

Half Life Alyx is fully playable on a Q3 and is arguably the best VR title out there. Plenty of Racing Titles in VR that rival GT7. Not to mention the countless mods you can use to play every single RE title in VR. Not sure what argument you are making there.

I own both headsets and use them both extensively.

[Babadook7]

"it's all subjective, while from a technical standpoint the PSVR2 is more advanced, the Q3 has the ease of use factor, not to mention completely wireless (with the option of linking to your PC via a cable or wirelessly for improved visuals / performance)."

It's subjective but overall most people would admit PSVR2 has a big edge on top end gaming. The things I mentioned are quite a lot better than the Q3s few advantages.

"Foveated rendering means you only get a high quality image in the small area you are looking, that isn't necessarily something to brag about, it's to reduce processing load."

This is weird. It IS something to brag about, the part of the screen you aren't looking at NEVER needs to be at the same res as where your fovea is aimed at. The performance difference is so great that devs make games like Red Matter 2 and Pavlov run better on PS5 than very high end PC GPUs. There is no downside with that tech.

"on the Q3 you get the full resolution of the headset across the entire screen, so it looks clear even in your peripherals. And while the PSVR2 has a higher resolution screen, 95% of games don't come anywhere near that resolution."

In terms of foveated rendering, no. As a result of having to render the whole screen at the same res, everything on the screen is rendered at lower quality including at lower res. The only advantage Quest 3 has are the pancake lenses, and that does increase the quality at the edge, but it also feels like looking through binoculars because the FOV is so much smaller, and the brightness is worse. Again, for high end it's no contest.

"Half Life Alyx is fully playable on a Q3 and is arguably the best VR title out there. Plenty of Racing Titles in VR that rival GT7. Not to mention the countless mods you can use to play every single RE title in VR. Not sure what argument you are making there."

All of these will soon be playable on VR2 and at a lower cost of entry and higher quality than Q3. So all PCVR compatibility will be another advantage to VR2.

[Neonridr]

@Babadook7 - yes but if you use your VR2 on the PC side, you lose even more of what sets the PSVR2 apart from the Q3. No foveated rendering, no haptic feedback on the headset, no eye tracking. It's a higher resolution headset at that point, assuming your PC can push the added pixels.

They both serve different markets, but it's clear which one was more successful than the other. Nothing subjective about that. I'm glad PSVR2 will get a new life on the PC, and hopefully more people will jump on board.

But having used both for countless hours, I still appreciate what you get with the Q3 since you don't need any actual hardware to enjoy VR. If you do happen to own something, then bonus.

[Valkyrye]

Digital Foundy said the exact opposite, Quest is miles better than PSVR2

[VariantAEC]

@Neonridr
"yes but if you use your VR2 on the PC side, you lose even more of what sets the PSVR2 apart from the Q3." Like?

"No foveated rendering, no haptic feedback on the headset, no eye tracking." Oh right, stuff no PCVR game supports, so why does it matter again?

"It's a higher resolution headset at that point, assuming your PC can push the added pixels."
Well PCs are supposed to render everything at 8K240 at max settings anyway, right?

[ibrake4naps]

Don't agree. I have both. Quest 3 just doesn't have the power of ps5, and so can't play GT7 or the multiple Resident Evils I bought PSVR2 for, and the games that are on both are better on vr2 due to eye tracked foveated rendering and better haptics. Quest 3 though if you have a good PC to link it to or for non game uses...

[TheEroica]

People are down voting you because you have the courage to say sonys VR offering is a massive failure that we're all witnessing... How dare you tell us the emperor's not wearing clothes!

[S2Killinit]

Ok clearly you don't own a PSVR2. Not sure why we have to listen to you. Look at you all coming out of the woodwork because the headset price drop has caused a surge, and you’re upset about that.

[Profchaos]

Yeah I thought about the quest but I didn't want to be in a situation like the quest 2 vs psvr1 and the mobile graphics were really poor in comparison like saints and sinners

[RiseNShine]

The problem with Quest 3 is that its games have PS2 graphics, PS3 at best. Even it's best looking game Asgard Wrath 2 looks a lot worse than AG1, even though it's a 5 year old game. Meanwhile PSVR2 games look mindblowing in comparison.

[JEECE]

This reminds me a lot of when Sony finally put together a decent PS Vita bundle that includes several games and a memory stick and sold it for under $200. They couldn't keep it in stock. https://www.pushsquare.com/...

But unfortunately these moves that boost their secondary platforms tend to come too late, after Sony has already mostly stopped pushing them.

[badz149]

At least they are willing to do it this way unlike Nintendo

[NotoriousWhiz]

When 3ds weren't selling, they dropped the price and included 10 gba games and 10 NES games for early adopters.

That price drop was permanent and came within the first year of its launch due to low sales. While 3ds never went on to be a huge success, that move likely went on to prevent it from an early grave.

[S2Killinit]

TWO THOUSAND %

😆

[Babadook7]

We’ve got a spam issue n4g. Someone or some group of motivated individuals are just creating new accounts and spamming every positive PSVR2 article like they’re on a mission.

[Hofstaderman]

This has been going on for months now and it is not limited to psvr2 news. Report the accounts. We all know who it is.

[Hofstaderman]

Reported account. Cya.

[Babadook7]

“Report the accounts. We all know who it is.“

LOL
Who?
No life or paid shills??

“There are no positive PSVR2 articles.”
Indeed. I can see how, to a shill, 2000% bump to the sales of the competition isn’t positive at all. lol

[helicoptergirl]

The PSVR2 is absolutely excellent. It just wasn't popular at that original price point. I bought one at launch and it really is pretty awesome. Glad more are jumping on. If it's considered a 'failure' so be it, but really it's not. It's all R&D. Sony have learned so much. Sooner or later VR will be massive and Sony will be at the top of the mountain ready to go and dominate. The market just isn't ready for mass adoption yet, but when the tech evolves, Sony will be there at the forefront.

[Babadook7]

Well put.

I can agree in that “someday” it will succeed. Sony deserves a lot of credit for inventing the category, more or less, and taking all the risk.

[EnViiDisnuCCa]

Still don't matter to me don't have any games to make it worth it

[S2Killinit]

Really? Please tell me more about something you dont have.

[aaronlif10]

For those who are new to PSVR2, I HIGHLY recommend PAVLOV VR! it's some of the most fun I've had in a game in years. Like the Goldeneye 64 of VR

[Profchaos]

As a psvr2 owner since launch I've always said the headset is amazing what holds it back is the lack of new and exciting releases post launch with only one new big AAA banger coming since launch that's re4. And as a launch owner ove frequently felt let down even more than I did with the support of the psvr1 which was just adequate overall.

Sony should know that people do want to play vr games for a reasonable price maybe they will now reconsider supporting it at least put in the work to port some classics like Astro bot and blood and truth and maybe a contract with Bethesda for a Skyrim rerelease with 4k and HDR.

But nah since vr games don't sell 20 million plus they will let it rot.

[Braindeadninja]

Yes I am waiting for price drop in india. Wanted to try this badly but the price was not justifiable earlier.

[TwoPicklesGood]

VR will always be trash if the games are. Price drop is amazing but the problem is we have maybe one or two somewhat decent games and that isn’t going to cut it. I use mine to play poker….lol

[IceCreamSandwich5]

Still, Sony will soon pull the plug on this flop. Learned my lesson with PSVR.

[Aussiesummer]

what a bunch of mindless suckers

[Elda]

A $200 price drop makes a hell of a difference, which people went out in droves & bought. Good for Sony. Though $350 is a nice price it's still a pass for me, especially when there's hardly any first or 3rd party AAA games for PSVR2.

[BlackOni]

Who would've guessed that the one piece of tech that cost just as much as a PS5 that's now way less expensive AND also works on PC would finally get sales? I remember saying it was dead on arrival when this was first launching if it didn't have PC support or cost less than the PS5, and there were so many downvotes lol. I'm honestly glad to see them reverse course on both of these points.

I will be picking one up asap. Was sold out last time I checked >_<

[Tsar4ever01]

It's very clear why it wasn't selling at first, nobody's liked It's high-end price, cost more than the console itself. But NOW, after it's $200 price jump, suddenly everybody's on board with the HMD!!! Now if Sony get more space game VR support like Elite Dangerous, EverSpace 1-2, port over the PC game "House of the Dying Sun". And also port games like latest Mech Warrior & that new flight sim game DCS to the Ps5/Pro the VR headset should really takeoff.

[ocelot07]

I don't get it. Heard PSVR2 was dead and has been for a year. Why is so many people buying this dead platform. It's as if people who just want to hate on Sony or VR don't have any sort of clue what they are on about.

[poppatron]

We’re only at the half way point of this generation, it’s way too early to call time on the psvr 2. This sales boost will most certainly help but who knows how much.

Sony haven’t been supporting it but 3rd party devs still are, there’s plenty on the horizon and plenty to be excited about. I’m confident I’ll still be enjoying playing new releases on the psvr 2 until the very end of this gen

[RiseNShine]

it's an amazing product at a terrible price and sub par game support, dropping the price together with PC compatibility suddenly makes it much more interesting now.

[CosmicTurtle]

Imagine if they published some games for it too again.

[Reaper22_]

Good for them but this only proves that the launch price was too high. Unfortunately, VR is still seen as niche .

[Rebel_Scum]

Still not discounted in my region. $900 is a joke.

[derek]

Gt7vr is the best gaming experience I've had this gen by far. I would highly recommend it to any new purchasers