Sony is the latest tech company to cut the price of its VR headset. On Monday, the Japanese company said its PlayStation VR or PSVR, headset, and camera attachment will now cost $400 (instead of $460 earlier).
VR headset discounts are a growing trend
Although the camera is deemed as quite a necessary accessory for a holistic PSVR experience, it was only available as a separate accessory until now. Starting September 1, the $400 pack will now include the camera as well. This means users will not have to spend another $59 for the camera.
Sony is also offering a discount on its higher-end VR bundle, which includes the headset, camera, two Move controllers and the mini-game compilation PlayStation VR Worlds. While in the United States, the bundle will be sold for $450, in Canada, it will cost around $580. For now, the company has not announced if the price cut is for Europe and the United Kingdom as well.
Sony’s price cut follows similar price cuts from other VR headset companies. Facebook’s Oculus recently announced a permanent price drop for its Rift headset from $598 to $499; HTC also dropped the price of its Vive headset from $799 to $599. On Monday, Microsoft announced that many big names, such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Acer, are working to launch Windows-powered VR headsets for the holiday season.
Also Check: How To Watch Game Of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7 Online For Free
How the PSVR is performing
Reports from research firms such as IDC and Superdata suggest that Sony might outperform HTC and the Oculus Rift in sales. However, it does not guarantee encouraging sales of the Sony VR headset. Even though the company announced that it sold about 915,000 units of its PlayStation VR as of February, it did not annoHow To Watch Game Of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7 Online For Freeunce 1 million sales until June. Further, in April, it was reported that Sony was looking for new markets as sales of the PSVR were slumping.
In its latest quarterly report, the Japanese firm reported a 5.4% year-over-year increase in its Games division revenue to ¥348.1 billion (about $3 billion). During the conference call, the company stated that it is largely due to the contribution of the PlayStation VR. Previously, Sony claimed that every PSVR headset it sold had earned money.
“This is a great time to jump into the PlayStation VR experience, with a huge lineup of over 100 games, including recent favorites like Arizona Sunshine, SUPERHOT VR, Tiny Trax, Fantastic Contraption and Dino Frontier,” the company said in a blog post.
To push VR further, Sony has some great titles in the pipeline, such as Bravo Team, The Inpatient, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, Doom VFR, and so on. Further, the company keeps updating its PS4 system, with the latest being 5.00, which includes improvements for PSVR, such as 5.1-inch 7.1-inch virtual surround sound in Cinematic Mode.
Separately, towards the beginning of the month, Sony announced shipping 63.3 million PS4 units globally. However, customers should not misunderstand shipping by sales, as the former means only shipping to stores. However, it is known that as of June 11, a total of 60.4 million PS4 consoles have been sold.
