Jordan O'BrienSony has become the latest VR headset manufacturer to reveal pricing and release details, following hot on the heels of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
While the HTC Vive has been heralded as the most impressive VR headset currently on the market, it is also the most expensive. The consumer edition costs £689 including VAT, making it significantly more expensive than the PlayStation VR which is set to retail at £350.
The PlayStation VR is also less expensive than the Oculus Rift, which in the UK costs £499. The Oculus Rift requires a high-end PC however, something the PlayStation VR doesn’t require.
Sony has already put up the PlayStation VR for pre-order, with the company hoping to capitalise on the 230 developers and publishers that are set to create over 160 games for it. The company has already revealed several games, including EVE: Valkyrie, Rez Infinite and Headmaster.
While the PlayStation VR is cheaper and easier to get to grips with than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, both Oculus and HTC will have a head start. While both of those devices are set to be released in Q1, Sony confirmed that the PlayStation VR won’t be in customers’ hands until October 2016.
Despite that set back, experts already believe the PlayStation VR will outsell the other two devices. That’s because, while it is technically inferior, it only needs a PlayStation 4 to get started with – a device millions of people already have in their living rooms. The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive require a high-end PC – something that could cost thousands of pounds.
The only VR headset that has the plug and play-ability that Sony’s PlayStation VR headset boasts is the Gear VR – which uses Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones to power it. The Gear VR is by far the most affordable VR headset, costing £80, but it’s also not the most advanced, despite being powered by Oculus technology.
According to analysts at IHS, Sony is expected to sell more than 1.6m PlayStation VR headsets before the end of 2016.