Sony Cuts Projections For PS VR2 In Half After Pre-Orders Disappoint

Sony has been extensively hyping up the release of its next-gen VR headset, PlayStation VR2. With launch titles including popular games like Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and No Man’s Sky, Sony has high expectations. But, the company is seemingly cutting them in half as the pre-orders for PS VR2 have been disappointing. 

After initially projecting to sell 2 million units in the headset’s first quarter, Sony has halved its forecast. Now, it expects PS VR2 to sell 1 million units in this quarter, bringing the expectations down a notch. It seems like the console won’t have the flying start Sony thought it would.

Sony is slashing PlayStation VR2 headset shipments by about half this quarter due to disappointing pre-orders https://t.co/FgPOtvtOSI

— Bloomberg (@business) January 31, 2023

Even though virtual reality hasn’t taken over gaming yet, the market is still pretty competitive. Companies like Meta and HTC release fascinating flagship headsets and the former rules the industry. With Apple also rumored to dive into VR headsets with a touchless invention, the market is going to get even tougher.

For the past year or so, Sony has been playing up its next-gen fighter in the VR headset battle. The PlayStation VR2 is a remarkable improvement over the original regarding specs. But, what makes the PS VR2 truly stand out is the list of games playable on it on launch. 

Aside from the AAA big hitters we mentioned above, it has other exceptional titles headlining its release. Resident Evil: Village, Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue, The Dark Pictures: Switchback, and Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge are just some big names PS VR2 has on launch.

With titles like Among Us VR, Ghostbusters, Jurrasic World, and Resident Evil 4 coming out after launch, it’s easy to see why Sony had such high hopes.

However, the Japanese tech giant is dialing its hopes down, according to a new report from Bloomberg. After discouraging early pre-order numbers, Sony has reduced its initial expectation for PS VR2. Prior to this, the headset was expected to sell 2 million units in its launch quarter. 

But now, this number has gone down significantly to 1 million units, according to Bloomberg sources. Apparently, Sony has told a supplier to anticipate fewer orders for display panels, according to sources. Hence, the corporation has a lower demand for the PS VR2 in mind now.

With the PS VR2, Sony aimed to increase VR user growth and get more people to adopt the medium. It expected the second-generation VR headset to usher in a new age for Virtual Reality. Now, however, it seems like the company doesn’t expect it to accomplish such feats early on.

According to Bloomberg, Sony sees high prices as the main reason why the VR market has been stagnant. The underwhelming PS VR2 pre-orders are also due to this reason, which limits the medium as a whole. Most of the world is in an economic crisis and that only exacerbates the problems for Virtual Reality.

For now, Sony expects to ship 1.5 million units of the console between April 2023 and March 2024. Although, this figure will be adjusted when the sales feedback comes in. But, overall, this situation is just another bad signal for the Virtual Reality industry.

Even though it has been much hyped for years, it has never really proved itself to be a phenomenon. And, a headset like PS VR2, which has strong specs and an amazing game lineup, failing to meet expectations just adds to the disappointment. Many people have doubts about Virtual Reality and if it will ever live up to its sci-fi expectations. 

Only time will answer this question, but currently, it isn’t likely to revolutionize the industry. PS VR2 release on February 22, 2023, for a sum of $599.99. Do you think the headset will be a success or a failure? Tell us in the comments below.