Low PSVR 2 preorders confirm that Sony is out of touch

Buyer beware, you’re in for a scare

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

It looks likeSonywill be scaling back its sales projections for thePSVR2, along with unit production, in the wake of underwhelming pre-order performance.

Pre-launch statistics forPSVR 2haven’t quite met Sony’s expectations which, asBloomberg reports, initially sat at a lofty 2 million units available worldwide throughout its launch quarter. Sony was clearly betting big on its latest VR peripheral, then.

Now, though, according to an as-of-yet unnamed supply partner, Sony has set a more realistic expectation of shipping 1.5 million units throughout the upcoming financial year (April 2023 - March 2024). For context, Sony’s sold roughly 30 millionPS5consoles as of December 2022, suggesting Sony expected one in 15 PS5 owners to purchase the VR headset.

Back to the virtual drawing board

So what’s with the lukewarm pre-release reception for the PSVR 2 from consumers? For starters, you only need to look at the headset’s price. At $549 / £529, it’s even more expensive than the PS5 itself. No matter how you slice it, that’s a bad look for anyone considering buying some of thebest PS5 accessories.

And while Sony has confirmed a large launch line-up of games for PSVR 2, withover 20 games availableon day one, there’s a distinct lack of attention-grabbing killer apps to put the VR headset in any kind of anticipated standing. At least among potential buyers who don’t have much disposable income.

It’s a problem VR has struggled with for years. Yes, occasional standouts exist in the likes ofHalf-Life: AlyxandResident Evil 4 VR, but by and large, the lofty costs of even thebest VR headsetsmake it a very niche corner of gaming. Alack of backwards compatibilityhurts PSVR 2’s case even more, with players unable to bring their existingPSVRlibraries to the new headset.

I feel this rings true for PSVR 2 as well. Most PS5 owners simply aren’t going to be lining up to drop another half-grand on a peripheral that, while very promising in the specs department, isn’t offering a library of games nearly as convincing as thebest PS5 games.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

It looks to me like Sony may have grossly overestimated PSVR 2’s appeal if reports of it scaling back its sales projections pre-launch are true. And that $549 / £529 price tag stings all the more amidst an ongoing cost of living crisis that has no end in sight.

I’m all for PSVR 2 existing, if only to begin expanding the number of console-based VR headsets available. But Sony, much as we saw with theDualSense Edge, has certainly fumbled the pricing.

Rhys is TRG’s Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.

Batman: Arkham Shadow review: an almost flawless VR experience

Batman: Arkham Shadow is the Meta Quest 3 game you’ve been waiting for

Belkin’s Travel Bag for Vision Pro has pockets and is way cheaper than Apple’s own case