Sony recently announced that its upcoming virtual reality headset, PlayStation VR, will be launching in October of this year priced at £349.99/€399.99. The eagerly anticipated VR headset is now scheduled a little later than the expected timeframe and comes at a time when several Virtual Reality products have been released or nearing launch dates of their own.
When it is released in October, Sony’s PlayStation VR headset will join Facebook’s Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and indirectly, Microsoft’s Augmented Reality Headset, Hololens in the battle for market share in the augmented / virtual reality market. Most of these Headsets are primarily focused on providing virtual reality experiences in gaming environments with Sony’s PS VR tied in closely with the company’s PlayStation 4 console.
It is here that Sony seems set to gain a significant share of teh Virtual Reality market once PlayStation VR hits the store shelves. Chief among this is the dominance of Sony’s current-gen PlayStation 4 gaming console over rivals such as the Xbox One or Wii U. At the last telling of the official figures, Sony had already shifted over 35 million PS4 units, barely three years after launch.
The biggest issue though that that may sway this battle in Sony’s favour, is price. All the above mentioned headset’s have created significant interest because of what they promise to offer, Hololens in particular, but so have their announced pricing points. At £349, the PlayStation VR headset will cost considerably less than the Vive headset at £689, Oculus Rift at £499, and Hololens at a whopping £3000 for a Development edition of Microsoft’s Headset!
In addition, Sony’s Platform already has a growing list of dedicated PS VR games and the company revealed that there are currently over 230 developers currently working on content for the platform. The list of games and developers includes small independants, triple A titles, large Studio’s, and some of the World’s biggest Publishers. There will be over 50 PS VR games available when the system launches in October 2016.
How the Virtual and Augmented Reality consumer market will evolve, only time will tell, but as the medium becomes one of the hottest future technologies, Sony certainly seems set to win big if the VR takes off commercially.
As listed on the PlayStation Blog, The standalone PlayStation VR headset will be launching in UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia and Czech Republic, in October 2016.
Playstation VR is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Follow this link to reserve yours now!
