PSVR2 Sales at 600,000 Six Weeks After Launch, Sony Confirms

That's promising, gives the impression that the showcase will have a reasonable amount of PSVR2 presence rather than just something like a quick highlight reel at the start.

Too early for the trend lines to mean anything yet, but the small portion they show make it look like PSVR2 will fall behind PSVR at the same stage in lifecycle soon, IF the trajectories hold.

That's a huge IF, especially since the graph doesn't show where PSVR went after the first 6 weeks.

So yeah, WAY too early to tell - but as you pointed out, clearly some of the early reporting was just flat-out embarrassingly wrong.

@Grumblevolcano - given the attention they're giving it, I expect at least a quarter of the content to be PSVR2, maybe a third. That's my prediction.

Doesn’t seem bad at all given the price point and with it only available directly from Sony. I have to wonder what effect, if any, the relentless circulation of Bloomberg’s false numbers has had on consumer perception though.

@Amnesiac If it's anything's like Bloombergs false reports on Nintendo to the point they had to create an investors relations Twitter account to refute the stuff hard....minimal impact on consumers at best.

Isn’t this less than the already pessimistic rumors?

@Tharsman Did you even read the article?

@Intr1n5ic yes. Did you read my post? I might be misremembering but recall some previous rumors that were seen as “negative” claimed 1 million.

(I’m not talking about Bloomberg I don’t trust them at all)

Edit: found it
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/01/sony-halves-reported-sales-expectations-for-coming-psvr2-headset/

There was lots of gloom and doom when Sony stared it would ship 1 million units from the predicted original goal of 2 million.

@Tharsman Ive never heard that rumor and if you have a link to anything about it I'd love to read it. Why would a million units sold be seen as negative anyway?

@Intr1n5ic see my edit.

True or false, it was seen as negative news by many.

Edit: and again I consider Bloomberg to be full of it and I take anything that dude says with a grain of salt.

Edit 2: the 2 million initial target repeating is another example of why I don’t trust Bloomberg one bit. But many saw negativity on the 1 million goal.

I think psvr 2 will get a boost in sales now that it is in stores, its a lot of money for people to fork out and may prefer to use store cards pay monthly options

Wow, that's a substantial push! Not much of a fan of VR, but the showcase tomorrow may have the biggest surprises.

@Tharsman If you don't trust them why mention it? You linked me an article that was written directly off the back of what Bloomberg wrote, which Sony clarified was completely untrue.

@Tharsman The update in that article says Sony categorically denied the rumour of cut PSVR2 production numbers. That's also discussing how many units Sony had made, not sales.

@LiamCroft I recall the denial and that they always expected 1 million, but it was still seen as negative at the time, even if nowhere near Bloomberg extreme reports. This is 2/3rds to that estimate.

Also will have to reread but thought it was about shipped units, not made ones, in a time where they sold directly to consumers. I guess you could claim “shipped to our own warehouse”.

Btw (for everyone) don’t take this as me celebrating a Sony fail. I honestly want console VR to succeed even if I can’t justify getting one myself. I find the tech is a great PS5 platform differentiator, just as Switch portability and Xbox GamePass streaming.

I do wish I had an easy way to test VR2 without buying it first… I’ll have to check with my youngest sibling and see if they ever bought it. Recall they wanted it.

@Intr1n5ic I linked to an article mostly due to the focus on the 1 million confirmed by Sony themselves. I agree I should had also highlighted the 2 million internal rumor was yet another reason I don’t trust Bloomberg, but the 1 million estimate was real.

@RobN Yea, this jumped out to me too. As you said, the data can go either way but these trend lines are potentially not promising. It’s all in how you slice up the data.

Seems good to me. With these numbers and them coming out saying they’re gonna support it regardless it’s all good news 🙌

Need to stop taking reports from the Japanese Bloomberg reporter as news. He's constantly been wrong.

@Tharsman Where is it confirmed by Sony? You're linking reports written by Bloomberg that we now know were complete nonsense. As Liam mentioned, these reports were also about production numbers, not sales.

Well happy PSVR2 owner here. I got one launch day and have not played on the flat screen since.

Still have a backlog of games to finish with lots of stuff launching soon.

Couldn't be happier with my purchase! Truly excellent but of kit.

I waited until I could pick it up from Amazon, and that was only because Amazon priced the Day One Astro at almost $1,100 more. Had Astro remained at $999, I would have bought it instead. Made my impulse buy of a PSVR2 an easy one.

Good job I held off buying one, similar sales figures to PSVR1 will mean a similar lack of AAA games.

The VR community was hoping for lifetime sale well in excess of 10M and PSVR2 pushing VR more mainstream, unfortunately with the price Sony is asking and the lack of marketing this is now just a pipe dream.

I wonder what retail did to sales. I got one the moment it became available in Gamestop. This could have been a lot more if Sony hadn’t been trying to reduce and sales and exposure. GameStop didn’t have them on display when I got them, which isn’t good because they would have been hyping it if they had been available for pre-order.
It’s a great VR system.

@TrickyDicky99 hard disagree. We already have some fantastic AAA titles. Also, PSVR1 was legitimately the first accessible consumer VR headset, and the first console VR headset, but the VR industry has grown by many many millions of users since then. I'd argue that it's already different than PSVR1 in terms of library. Plus, these numbers are in the middle of a global cost of living crisis with PSVR2 also being only available from Playstation Direct in many huge markets, so I'd say sales numbers are likely looking up now that you can buy it from retailers everywhere!

@CinemaNaut42 You're right, VR has grown by millions and moved on since 2016, and yet PSVR2 has only sold 8% more, which is why these numbers don't paint a good picture.

@Tharsman I think it was the supposed production cut itself (which Sony denied) that fed the narrative of PSVR2 failure. I don’t think it was so much about the specific number because we don’t really have any frame of reference for that. Also I think a lot of the press and a lot of gamers are just not interested in the console audience being fragmented this way and actually are rooting for a failure here.

@Hoodie718 that’s a shame. Rooting for failure should be reserved for 💩 practices like loot boxes.

One feature I think would turn all games into PSVR killer apps is if Sony attempted again the 3D visuals thing they attempted during the hype of 3D TVs.

Imagine if almost all PS5 games had a mode that simply allowed you to play them in a virtual TV, inside your headset, that happened to itself be a 3D TV. Games would still be playing on the flat surface, but they could all pop out at the player. The tech has a lot of potential and I really hope it lives long enough to fulfill that potential.

Oh look at that, the guy from Bloomberg who got Sony stats wrong twice before, got it wrong again? Who would've thunk it? 🤔

Bought PSVR2 a couple of months ago. I am disappointed.
1) Wearing it with glasses is a torture. If I even find a position when the image is not that blurry, it loses that position almost immediately, when I fix the helmet using that knob at the nape.
2) I almost immediately start sweating. My face, glasses and the helmet are getting wet after playing 30 minutes or so.
3) Current game selection is pitiful, comparing to the games for PSVR1. And there are no discounts on the games I want.

Currently I play it once per two weeks, maybe. 99% of my playtime I play on TV.

Not to say that I totally regret buying it, but it should cost far less, in my opinion.

I don't really post on anything but I thought I'll share with you all that I got a psvr2 from very and as it was my first order you get 20% off which is the best deal I've seen for the psvr2 like it's £400. Sorry sounds like a promotional post but i thought i might just like save some people some money

@GunValkyria considering that the people who own one don't feel like the novelty has worn off 3 months in, I doubt that will be an issue. I keep playing the same games, because I'm having so much fun. I haven't even had the time to move to others ones I've bought and look forward to giving a spin.

Full disclosure, I remember dreading playing PSVR1 because it required a lot of a set up. As soon as I started playing games like Beat Saber, I would love the experience, but it required a lot of convincing myself. That's not the case with PSVR2.

@BIGBADGRIFFIN that's an insane deal...

I grabbed one. I don't have any remorse over it but it needs a price drop to be viable for people to buy. It shouldn't have been more expensive than a PS5.

Edit:

Also the wire is too short. There needs to be a wireless system for it. I don't know how much juice it actually draws but, yeah, it's a bit short.

An extender could work but I do still get tangled from time to time.

@Amnesiac As well as not being available in retail outlets globally, it's also worth pointing out that it launched in February, not October like the PSVR1 did with the benefit of holiday sales. Additionally, the number of PS4's owned at the time of PSVR1 release were significantly higher than PS5's at the launch of PSVR2.

@skaarj217 Sad to hear you're disappointed, not picking on you but this is definitely not the consensus of most owners.
On your points:
1) There are multiple prescription lenses available on the market to negate this, I have the HONSVR ones and it definitely improved my experience. It will likely help your other discomfort comments in number 2, though this is something I haven't experienced (except maybe with Creed workouts!). Also there are plenty of head straps in development to help with keeping it in position, as I appreciate not everyone's head is the same shape.
3) I have to strongly disagree here, there are over 20 must-buy games on the system and hundreds in development, that's without knowing what will be announced later today. Are some of them Quest ports or upgraded versions of PSVR1 games? Yes, but they are the definitive versions of those titles. There are some more generic and bad ports but that's the same for any system.
GT7, Red Matter 2, RE Village, Walkabout Golf, Pistol Whip, Horizon COTM, Walking Dead 1&2, Creed, Synth Riders, Pavlov, Star Wars TFTGE, Kayak, Moss 1&2, Before your Eyes, Song in the Smoke, Demeo, Light Brigade, Last Clockwinder etc etc and more are all incredible. If you haven't tried some of the above I urge you to have a go, and hope you look into the prescription lenses as think it will be the main point that will improve your issues.

@Gooseman42 Thanks, I appreciate your arguments. Will look into this.

I actually already forgot it exist

You can see from that graph the negative effect all these lies had, published and republished without fact checking by sites like this. It’s good that it’s selling better than the original and, hopefully, this will give the customer base confidence again to push that line back upwards.

With fantastic games like Red Matter 2 not even getting a mention on mainstream sites like this though, it might be hard. The media has such a key impact.

@MattBoothDev
If it was wireless you wouldn't get the technical performance you do now though. Unless Sony comes up with a high bandwidth wireless addon, though not sure if the PS5 network spec is up to it.
However, you can add a USB extender lead to lengthen the cable, I got a 1m one from Amazon which works perfectly.

@skaarj217

Nape? Are you fitting the band at the bottom rather than the top of your head!?

I had the same problem with glasses. Maybe not as bad as you but they occasionally steamed up and I’d be terrified of them touching the lense if they moved and scratching it. I just bought some prescription inserts. Took a week to get to me but now everything is so much easier! Highly recommended.

Not sure what you mean about no games. There are a huge number compared to this stage for PSVR, and more being released all the time. Red Matter 2 was release recently and it’s an incredibly fun game, and the best looking VR game I’ve ever played anywhere.

@thefourfoldroot1 my thoughts exactly.

Had these lies not been published widely just because they attract traffic, potential buyers wouldn't have been deterred from buying one. Anyone who understands anything about how the market works knows that the average consumer buys what everyone else is buying because of FOMO. Like everyone is doing at the moment with Zelda, a franchise that was never as popular as Mario/Pokemon/GTA, etc.

Same thing happened with the PSvita. When you have article after article criticizing it and calling it dead before it launches, how likely is it that it's going to be successful when it does?

I still blame Sony for releasing these numbers when those Bloomberg -let's face it- "hit pieces" came out. They would have dramatically changed the narrative. Hopefully, they market it aggressively with price cuts, ads, special deals, etc during the holidays and especially on black Friday.

@thefourfoldroot1 yeah, unusual as Push Square have been covering a lot of PSVR2 releases recently. It's a busy time for releases & news coverage at the moment though. Plenty of Youtuber really positive impressions at least.
@LiamCroft is there a review for RM2 in the works it's an important title in the PSVR2 release roster so far?

@TrickyDicky99 I did purchase it as my first vr headset and although good I personally think this tech needs at least a few more iterations.Its cumbersome to wear and has a few annoyances.For this to be mainstream it needs the clarity of a TV and be wireless which is a long way off.Ive sold mine to a family member so can still check out the odd decent game 😉

@Gooseman42 Yep, we've got someone working on that review.

600,000 in six weeks whilst not available at retail in that period is amazing and according to reported recent console sales the PSVR2 probably outsold the Xbox S/X over the same period, Im looking to get one myself soon, been checking stock at Currys and they're sold out currently in most stores in greater Manchester, I think it'll be fine in the long run.

@ThorsHammer Appreciate journalists don't always get things right, but this guy seems to be hell-bent on a mission to destroy Sonys Sales and reputation all to generate negativity and clicks.
It just loses them respect and integrity, but hey Fox News has been getting away with it for years.
When it's vindictive like this, I reckon they should be publicly shamed, thinking along the lines of the Game of Thrones walk Cersei had to do.
That might reign in their bulls**t.

PSVR2 is awesome, I’m loving it

@Gooseman42 yeah that's true. I hadn't considered that.

Virtual reality is destined to be niche. I love VR it's boss, but only 600k total unit sales with just over 100k post launch day (looking at that graph) is not a success.

Anyone on the fence, it's worth the price. Yes it has a big novelty factor but to see the true scale whilst you are in the game world is mesmeric. Gaming used to be niche and If a developer or two can invent an unmissable brand new genre which can only work on a headset, then more people will jump on board. Its a chicken and egg situation.

@skaarj217 That's a shame. I wear glasses but find I dont need them for psvr2.

We are hitting almost 40 million ps5s sold, so 600k PSVR is on the low side. That’s what a 1.5% adoption rate of ps5 owners.

For a brand new product, that enthusiasts will have already snapped up.

Behind the scenes I can’t see Sony being happy with that. Especially with how good the tech is. We are just still too far from it being a mass uptake.

And that will mean devs won’t support it, major devs that is, already EA aren’t doing f1 in PSVR yet are on PC, the money for them isn’t there.

@themcnoisy That's 600k sales in the first 6 weeks though. We don't know what total sales to date are, especially now it's gone to retail and it hasn't been available over the holiday season yet.

Agree PSVR2 is definitely worth the price!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Did the 40M ps5 owners jump on the street to buy a ps5 day one ? No, they waited until they had the cash, or there were actually the games they wanted. This number slowly build up over 24-30 months. Now there is the new unfortunately expensive headset released 2-3 month ago with roughly 3 high profile games and then a lot of good indie to AA games. Clearly not every owner of a PS5 would immediately jump out to buy a new expensive accessory but only those who either are already triggered enough by the game selection or those who have faith in the future releases.

600k in 6 weeks does not sound bad a all. However, the graph does not look very promising since the sale-rate is below psvr1 at the 6 week point. On the other hand it is maybe not so surprising, since no "big" games have been released since the launch (the last major release is presumably S&S retribution)

Anyway let's see what Sony will announce in their Showcase. if only a few quest ports will be shown, it won't take off. But maybe there are a few very desirable titles? Who knows.

@GunValkyria absolutely. I'd wait for Black Friday, if I hadn't gotten mine already.

@gaston it’s worth bearing in mind that PSVR2 did not become available at retail in the US until more than a month after the point at which this graph ends. So a lot of the curve flattening could be Sony exhausting the early adopters willing to buy PSVR2 sight-unseen through PS Direct. I would expect the sale rate to increase again around May 12, when it became widely available through retailers. And hopefully a nice bump after today’s showcase 🤞

Wanna know the funny part? It sold more than Xbox series on that same time period.

A decent start but sale do seem to be flat lining, hopefully the PS showcase has some promising big future titles for it. As whilst I did get one at launch, I subsequently sent it back due to a lack of a clear road map, that said GT7 was amazing and I will jump back on board of the games come

Personally think those numbers are very good, especially as in the main markets you could only buy from Sony. They could be over a million now that is open to retailers.
Sony are going to have a lot of eyes on the show tonight, lots of exposure. Some really good game announcements for psvr2, a strong lineup into the Christmas holidays and better marketing and I think it could be a great first year for psvr2.
Anyway I'm loving the headset, over 40 hours in gt7 (just so addictive, even got me into the sport mode), some other really great games and the tech is brilliant. I find it super comfy and it's never fogged up once. For me it's been worth every penny.

@TeapotBuddha
I got mine from VR Optician I believe. They are clip on rather than magnetic though, which is best for me as I’m the only one using it. After scratching my old PSVR day one and putting up with a blemish for years, I wasn’t risking it this time.

@Serialsid
These numbers are great, not just because you couldn’t buy at retail, but also because of the much smaller PS5 instal base compared to the PS4 at the time of the original’s release, and also because this released in February, whereas the original released in time for the Christmas period. It shows the VR market must have grown significantly.

Interesting trajectory.

I think PSVR2 will end up being very successful. But it will take a long time to get there. I think a price drop of 100 bucks would really speed things up.

@CielloArc

Yeah the Series ship is sinking fast.

I dunno what Microsoft can really do at this point.

@thefourfoldroot1 yeah all good points, I reckon they launched it in Feb so by the time it had its first big Christmas push the software lineup will look very strong.
I'd bet the psvr2 will hit 10 million in its lifetime.

Yeah who would of thought actually realising it in stores other than their direct website with sign ups would increase sales 🤣

@Jswift56
These numbers are all from before the recent retail release.

@OrtadragoonX concentrate on games. I bought an xbox series x and it's great. But outside of forza horizon, age of empires 2 and flight simulator it doesn't have anything to separate themselves at the level of Sony or Nintendo. They have gone after the PC crowd and its a bad move as all MS games are on PC, so what's the point of buying an xbox?

I'm strangely at this point right now. Next up are Ghostwire Tokyo and Fuga 2. Bith games are available on other consoles.

@thefourfoldroot1 oh wow that is impressive misread the dates 😅🫣 will be buying one eventually though.

@Hoodie718 certainly a possibility that there are only few people left who are willing to deal with sony direct.

@Hoodie718 "Also I think a lot of the press and a lot of gamers are just not interested in the console audience being fragmented this way and actually are rooting for a failure here"

Between the press and the audience I'm starting to think that the Internet's ideal time was 1988 when there was one console, only one console, you'll take what they give you, and you'll take it at any price.

@skaarj217 "2) I almost immediately start sweating. My face, glasses and the helmet are getting wet after playing 30 minutes or so."

I can understand the nightmare with glasses as a thing, and game selection is a matter of preference but your point here stood out to me. That absolutely shouldn't be happening, and I can't think of any reason it should happen....do you live in an especially hot and humid location? I've been using mine probably 20+ hours a week, several hour sessions continuous some days, no feeling of heat, not a drop of sweat....very much unlike PSVR1 that was as you describe. It makes me wonder if the fan is broken in yours or something? It has an active fan that keeps air flowing over your face to keep that from happening and keep condensation from building up.

@naruball "Full disclosure, I remember dreading playing PSVR1 because it required a lot of a set up. As soon as I started playing games like Beat Saber, I would love the experience, but it required a lot of convincing myself. That's not the case with PSVR2."

^^THIS. So much this!

@JP80 I've loved mine from the start, but, in terms of clarity, I've found that there's a period of settling, IDK if it's the screen settling or my brain settling, but where in the beginning I could sense the "clarity' as being a tradeoff, like it was obviously a softer image and I could notice the mura etc. And as time has gone one I just....don't notice any of that anymore. It doesn't help new adopters but I definitely think there's a period of time where the eyes/brain need to catch up to the type of focus/viewing required before it "normalizes" the vision. Kind of like getting new prescription glasses where everything looks small and like it's inside an aquarium for a few weeks, then looks normal. To have objective tack-sharpness of a 4ktv on a medium sized screen though it would need, realistically 8k per eye. We're probably 25+ years away from 16k rendering at 90+fps with the kind of graphics features we'd expect on a PS5. TBH I'd rather see wider FOVs than higher crispness/resolution become the norm. It's amazing now but imagining even the current resolution but with more wrap-around vision like a full real life FOV would be amazing. Would need curved displays, of course....

Mine just arrived today having just gotten released from the local Police station after being attacked by a family member with a knife. I have zero interest to unbox it and turn it on 😀

Don’t worry folks, Homer Simpson will get all the help he needs

@BusyOlf I think the important thing about the state of PS......WAIT WTF?!

It's supposed to be VIRTUAL reality, not reality-reality!

@JP80 Clarity of a TV should be PSVR3 hopefully.

You can get TV clarity already in a headset like the Varjo XR3 but it's a few thousand to buy

Personally I think that’s a pretty good start in terms of sales given the “soft launch” nature.

Wonder how many of those media sites that were desperately quick to repeat the Bloomberg negative article will also repeat this more positive one…….

And I’m sure Bloomberg itself will be issuing an apology any time now 🤣🤣

those sales numbers are brutal for new gaming hardware of any kind. unfortunately for sony, the hardcore demographic will only purchase ONE psvr2 headset and the casual market has no interest in luxury items. heck, most people still do not own a ps5 yet which makes the psvr2's uphill battle all the more comical.

@NEStalgia it was a crazy escalation, stuck my head out the window at 1:30am after someone rang the doorbell and what can only be described as a budget Yakuza 0 scene which involved a deranged and paranoid alcoholic Uncle leaving a headless pigeon on my mothers car whilst holding a airsoft gun under his coat. Went outside, said some words to his door, went back in and phoned police.thirty minutes later the moron returns and I go out again holding a five pound mop pole for self defence. As I get closer to him he pulls out a knife and like the idiot I am I go on the attack to knock it out of his arm. Cut a crazy long story short, we both get arrested and I spend the next 9 hours, crossed legged, on the floor staring at a cell wall like that bad ass Nishitani san in Yakuza Zero does. Hindsight, sitting crossed legged for that amount of time leaves terrible strain on one’s back. Anyway, my mums safe and uncle is on a restraining order so he can’t come back to bully her with dead animals.

@Porco "unfortunately for sony, the hardcore demographic will only purchase ONE psvr2 headset"

Thankfully for Sony, the hardcore demographic will buy multiple VR games and the attach rate will make it successful. They wouldn't have made a PSVR2 if 1 hadn't been worth their while, unlike psv which sold far more.

@TrickyDicky99 Your analysis is completely wrong. Attached VR (wired - tethered - to another device to power the VR) has not grown at all, it is actually in decline. The growth in VR is because of the standalone models, especially the Oculus Quest models. People don't want to have to spend $500+ on a PC or console before you must spend another $500 to get to VR. And the vast amount of people definitely don't want to be directly wired to another device. They want the device to be self-contained VR device at a reasonable price. That is where the growth has been

@BusyOlf Wow, that's....quite a thing....you're not kidding about it being a budget Yakuza scene! Geeze. Might as well just return the PSVR2 now. It'll only lead to disappointment. It'll never compare to that.

As some of us have been saying from the start, the February 22nd has most definitely been a soft launch. Consider all of the following:

• PSVR2 only launched at Amazon/retail stores on May 12th.
• PSVR1 launched right into the shopping season (October).
• The console install base for PSVR2 is several times smaller at the time of launch when compared to the original PSVR.

Now, PSVR2 is strategically important to Sony and this is why:

• It's another tick in the console box. Even if a consumer doesn't plan to get a headset right from the start, it's nice to have the option. That indirectly drives console sales.
• The attach rate is sky high with VR headsets (games bought per user). The average PSVR owner has the characteristics that platform holders love: they're mostly hyper enthusiasts with disposable income.
• VR still has this patina of bleeding edge tech, thus making the related console look more advanced hence more attractive. I look at the main competitor and see, you know, "services", "value", and so on. These are great, but what is more exciting (not to mention the games, of course)?

@TrickyDicky99 PSVR2 is the highest selling wired headset in history... in the middle of a major cost of living crisis... only available for purchase from Playstation Direct in many major market nations with no retail presence for the first three months, releasing at a time when there are fewer PS5's to play it on than there were PS4's to play the PSVR1 on. Your dire interpretation of the numbers is nothing more than the same old regurgitated "VR is dead!!" claims we've heard over and over again, and it keeps not being true. You do you though, that's all I've got to say on the matter 😅

PSVR2 is an outstanding piece of hardware. Red Matter 2 proves that.

Actually it's the PS5 that is failing the PSVR2. Imagine if games like GT7 and RE Village could run at the framerate and resolution of Red Matter 2, instead of the slightly fuzzy reprojected messes we get from games like Horizon.

The problem though is still software. Vita was a superb piece of hardware too (best handheld ever made IMO), but that didn't save it.

The PS Direct hasn't really given me any reasons not to dump my PSVR2 on ebay....

Edit: I actually wish we could have a mode on GT7 VR that dials the visuals down to GT3/PS2 levels, but at full resolution and frame rate. I'd use that mode permanently.

Needs a lot more titles very little available so far also need to look into upgrading PSVR titles

adding zeros does not make it impressive lol that is 0.6 million units sold after 5 months of preorders and sales. at the time there were 38 million PS5 owners, so that is a disastrous number, I'll be very surprised if they don't cancel this product