Home Sony to ‘halt PSVR2 production due to surplus of stock’

Sony to ‘halt PSVR2 production due to surplus of stock’

TL:DR

  • Sony reportedly halts PSVR2 production due to slow sales.
  • High VR hardware price and limited game support hinder uptake.
  • Sony faces challenges but gears up for PlayStation 5 Pro launch.

Sony Group Corporation has allegedly put a stop to production of its PSVR2 headset, due to a backlog of unsold units.

The news came from an article by Bloomberg journalist Takashi Mochizuki who claims that sales of the product have slowed ‘progressively since its launch and stocks of the device are building up.’

Citing unnamed sources who are ‘familiar with its [the firm’s] plans,’ Sony has apparently produced ‘well over two million units of the product launched in February of last year.’

This comes just over a year after the PlayStation VR2 was officially launched, catapulting Sony as one of the front runners in the virtual reality gear market. The device, priced at $549.99, allows users to explore reality gaming with PlayStation VR2 Sense technology.

In the Bloomberg article, Macquarie analyst Yijia Zhai offers a reason for the potential lack of take-up: “The high price of VR hardware acts as the main hurdle for its expansion,”

“Currently, there are limited games that support VR devices, and that will also lead to lack of motivation for players to purchase VR hardware. This limited content also has a reason – the development cost for VR games is substantially higher than normal titles.”

Sony has not yet confirmed or denied the halting of production and it is expected that they’re continuing to work on expanding the PSVR2 headset range.

Reality of the video game industry

The Tokyo-based technology giant has faced some challenges recently, as it announced plans to cut around 900 jobs within its PlayStation unit and shut down a London-based studio in late February 2024.

These layoffs affected in-house studios like Guerrilla Games which worked on creating an exclusive game for the headset from its popular Horizon series.

Sony is not alone, as both Microsoft and Tencent-owned Riot Games also underwent significant layoffs in recent months due to a slow recovery in the gaming industry.

PlayStation 5 Pro expected launch in September

Although the PSVR2 headset may not be performing as well as the company hoped, that isn’t stopping them from gearing up ahead of the PlayStation 5 Pro release.

An exact date isn’t yet known, but console fans are trading rumors about a possible date in September of this year. Several gaming tech insiders seem to agree about this rough window which would line up logically with the planned release of Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025.

It’s reported by industry sources via the YouTube channel RedGamingTech that the PlayStation 5 Pro will feature eight-core Zen 2 CPUs (clocking in at 4GHz), an RDNA 3 GPU at 2.8 GHZ, and 16GB of 18,000 MT/s GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 587 GB/s.

Much like everything else, the price isn’t yet known either. In 2016, when Sony released a Pro console after a Slim version, the Pro version cost $100 more. By that logic, the PlayStation 5 Pro could potentially be in the region of $599.99.

Featured Image: Photo by Triyansh Gill on Unsplash

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Sophie Atkinson
Tech Journalist

Sophie Atkinson is a UK-based journalist and content writer, as well as a founder of a content agency which focuses on storytelling through social media marketing. She kicked off her career with a Print Futures Award which champions young talent working in print, paper and publishing. Heading straight into a regional newsroom, after graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Journalism, Sophie started by working for Reach PLC. Now, with five years experience in journalism and many more in content marketing, Sophie works as a freelance writer and marketer. Her areas of specialty span a wide range, including technology, business,…

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.