Sony"s second PlayStation-based virtual reality headset is reportedly getting a production pause. A new report from Bloomberg claims that the company is not making new units at the moment of its PSVR2 device for the PlayStation 5 console.
Sony first launched the PSRV2 in February 2023 for the price of $549.99. Since then, however, there have been reports of low sales for the VR headset. Bloomberg"s report says Sony has produced over 2 million units of the PSVR2 since its launch. However, its poor sales have caused Sony to reportedly pause production of the product until it can sell off the unsold inventory of the headset. Sony has not made an official comment on Bloomberg"s story.
A few weeks ago, Sony announced it was working to add support for playing PC VR games to the PSVR2. The company didn"t offer any more details on this plan, except that it hopes "to make this support available in 2024."
One big problem with sales of the headset is that Sony has not offered a permanent price cut for the devices. It remains priced at $549.99, which is higher than the price of the PS5 console itself.
The reports of a temporary production shutdown of the PSVR2 is just the latest bad news for Sony"s PlayStation division. In its most recent financial report, Sony announced that the PS5 console will sell 21 million units worldwide in its current fiscal year, rather than the previously predicted 25 million units. It also said there won"t be any major PS5 first party games, on the scale of a Spider-Man 2 or a God of War title, until sometime in 2025.
Sony also announced in February it will cut 900 jobs from its PlayStation division worldwide. Those cuts include the complete closing of Sony"s London studio, which was working mostly on PSVR games.