Sony has reportedly paused PlayStation VR2 production in order to clear a backlog of unsold units.
Bloomberg reported sales of the $550 virtual reality headset have “slowed progressively” since its launch in February 2023, causing a buildup of stock. According to the site, Sony produced “well over” two million PSVR2 units.
The relative success of the PSVR2 was called into question earlier this year when Sony announced a number of upcoming games for the device, none of which were from its first-party studios. Then, as part of a wave of devastating layoffs affecting 900 staff, Sony’s VR-focused London studio was earmarked for closure. IGN investigated the state of PSVR2 as part of a feature that painted a grim picture of Sony’s VR headset, which looks abandoned at this point.
Six weeks after launch, Sony announced PSVR2 had sold nearly 600,000 units. Analysts suggest it sold just over one million units in its first year. Last December, SIE’s head of global business Eric Lempel told the Financial Times that PSVR2 was “a bit of a challenging category right now,” adding he thought “there was a higher expectation generally for what VR would do to gaming.” It appears PSVR 2 sold poorly during the 2023 holiday season. RoadToVR tracked the Amazon sales of the Meta Quest 2 and 3 compared to the PSVR2 during the holiday season and found Meta’s headsets significantly outsold the PSVR2.
Where does the PSVR2 go from here? Sony is currently testing compatibility with PC, which it said would allow PSVR 2 players access to more VR games via PC. This opens the door for users to access more games otherwise unavailable on PSVR2, but it does not address the lack of first-party support from Sony itself.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
