Sony’s Playstation VR Price Conundrum

The Sony developed Playstation VR (PS VR) is said to be marketed as its own platform although will need to be tethered to the Playstation 4 games console to play games. Whilst we’re not going to debate about the specs or the 50 odd known games in development, there’s a big white elephant in the room regarding the hardware’s pricing when it comes to market in the first half of 2016. Sony are going to have to be very careful here if they want the device to achieve mass adoption, and if it’s too expensive then even the most ardent fans will be put off. As with any new technology coming into market cheap is going to be a challenge given the components used but if Sony take the angle of low price equals more sales rather than high price and fewer sales then there’s a positive outlook for both them and the consumer.

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It’s clear the PS VR is a neat piece of kit and anyone who has sampled it will attest to this. However, for those sitting on the fence or who are unaware, the task of selling VR is pretty tough and until first hand experience is gained is practically impossible to convey to others effectively how it feels or looks like in the flesh so to speak. We can all watch 2D videos of representative experiences, or take a look at “members of the public” screaming and shouting about how immersive it is, but this isn’t the same as actually trying it for oneself. The biggest problem for Sony and any other company pushing VR head mounted displays into the public domain is getting people to try it in the first place and ultimately the experience they receive being enough to sell the idea and convert into an actual sale. We can imagine stores having manned booths or displays where potential customers can try out the possibly sweaty units but due to the personal nature of blocking off the outside world is going to be difficult for many people to overcome initially. In this regard the demos will have to offer comfortable family viewing that highlight the strengths and desires of VR within the first 30 seconds of a person donning the HMD.

Looking at impressions of current VR displays and there’s a lot of positivity which is encouraging, but we have to hark back to the pricing and what will be acceptable. If we look at the Samsung Gear VR first edition which shipped at $200 for Note 4 users or the Oculus Rift DK 2 which was closer to the $350 mark and we can get an idea of what to expect. Samsung’s consumer version of its Gear VR is priced at a nifty $99 but in this instance requires a specific 2015 and beyond mobile phone from Samsung for it to work which bumps up the price if you don’t already own one of those. We can get a rough picture though of the pricing where $300 seems to be a decent starting point, but pushing beyond this realm becomes more of a challenge. Looking at the PS VR and potential owners who will already have paid $399 at launch for the PS4 and it’s clear there’s a possibility Sony will use a similar pricing which would be pretty tough in our eyes. When you also factor in the cost of software and VR could end up pricing itself out of reach for the majority of people.

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As of now, consumers adopting the Playstation 4 can get the console under $349 which brings us back to the PS VR’s price. Anything below $300 seems like a sensible ball park to aim for but edging above that towards $400 or beyond will make the PS VR extremely specialist. If Sony wants to tap in to the millions of potential PS4 owners and gain some traction and much needed revenue from software sales, then setting a low price point is a must, whether this is possible will depend on the cost of components used and the all expensive marketing. That said, the reality here for Sony is, if they get the release pricing wrong they run the risk of turning people away from VR before it has had a chance to bloom. In the case of VR initial numbers of early adopters will be crucial for making the venture viable over the longer term. Sony are well known for quality products and in some instances have taken a less than favourable stance with its pricing model towards potential consumers – remembering the PS3 launch price. Here they are moving into the unknown and therefore it’s important for them to uphold their stance on quality, but also be fair and attractive towards the wider potential market – a $499 PS VR would be a brazen move that’s for sure even if it included some software. We’re hoping Sony sees sense here in this new venture and as mentioned already aim for between $199 -$299 which seems to be the perfect middle ground price point. Obviously if it’s cheaper than this then we’re really talking massive initial potential, but we have to be realistic. Either way, it’s no doubt going to be very hard for Sony to gauge a sweet spot considering how new the technology is and with no one else in the market with an actual consumer product aside from Samsung’s mobile efforts, even tougher to get an idea of interest and what people are willing to pay.

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.