Over the past year, Sony has teased the next generation of its virtual reality peripheral joining the PlayStation 5. Today the company revealed the firm price and launch details.
The VR2 bundle will launch for $549.99 MSRP (€649.99 / £569.99 / ¥79,980) and includes PS VR2 headset, PS VR2 Sense controllers and stereo headphones.
There will also be a special launch bundle available that includes the PS VR2 headset, VR2 sense controllers, stereo headphones, and a download code for Horizon: Call Of The Mountain game priced at $599.99.
Both will be released on February 22, 2023. Sony expects to have more than 20 games available at launch and has announced 11 so far Crossfire: Sierra Squad, The Light Brigade, Cities VR – Enhanced Edition, Cosmonious High, Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue, Jurassic World Aftermath Collection, Pistol Whip VR, Zenith: The Last City, After the Fall, Tentacular, and The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR. The new Switchback VR game from Supermassive Games plays much like the carnival rail shooter for the original PSVR with one new twist. Some enemies you’ll encounter only move when players blink. All systems and games will be available to pre-order beginning on November 15 initially only available through PlayStation Direct.
The reaction on social media has been mixed with some believing it’s insane for the headset to cost almost as much as the PlayStation 5 while others compare it to the more expensive VR systems from Oculus and Meta. Sony has been upfront about the new VR headset not being backward compatible with previous gen VR games like Batman Arkham VR. In 2016, the original PSVR system was launched in a mishmash of SKUs as gamers could purchase the PSVR in a camera and headset only bundle with the complete package that included Move motion controllers later on.
Sony is trying to make everything more streamlined this time around with SKUs that include the new Sense controllers so developers only need to make games for one loadout of the system. No external camera is needed for the new PSVR 2 but you’l still be hardwired to the system. It remains to be seen how the new VR2 will be received by fans. The original got off to a slow start and to date has moved only 5 million units in comparison to the 106 million units of PlayStation 4 console sold as of 2019.
