The PlayStation VR has been a relatively popular and well-received virtual reality device for home gamers, but now, we finally have an idea on how popular it is. Sony confirmed the PSVR has sold an estimated 915,000 units since its launch, according to the New York Times.
As the Times notes, the sales figure exceeds Sony’s expected goal of breaking the one million units mark by mid-April. Sony also expects for inventory of the PlayStation VR to be replenished around the same time.
For Sony, the PlayStation VR’s strong sales numbers make the home VR device an unqualified success for the company. With traditional VR being such a new technology, the initial adoption costs for devices like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift have been a major hurdle for non-enthusiast users, as these VR headsets need to be paired with a separate PC with gaming-caliber specifications.
The high cost of entry has been reflected in sales reports for the Vive and Rift: analytics firm SuperData Research estimates that 243,000 Rift headsets and 420,000 Vives were sold by the end of 2016. As of November 2016, HTC could only confirm that they’ve sold more than 140,000 units of the Vive. Oculus officials were similarly cagey about their sales figures last fall in an interview with The Verge.
In an interview Monday at MWC with UploadVR Alvin Graylin, President of Vive, said PSVR sale figures are a good sign for the industry.
“I mean at the end of the day, the more VR experiences out there, the more users that are using VR the faster this industry is going to grow. So we’re really happy for Sony, we think they’ve done a really good job," Graylin told UploadVR.
By comparison, the PlayStation VR has benefited from the PlayStation 4’s sizable existing install base. With a comparatively accessible price tag of $400, you only need a PS4 or PS4 Pro to use the device and the headset is easy to set up and start playing with.
While the PlayStation VR isn’t without its hiccups, Sony has still encouraged major investments in the early platform. Resident Evil 7’s PS4 version has a timed exclusive mode where the whole title is playable in PlayStation VR. According to a recent patent filing, the company is also starting to look into alternative VR methods that could hint at features for an eventual PlayStation VR 2.
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