Analyst suggests a PS VR2 price cut ‘will be needed to avoid a complete disaster’

Sales of Sony‘s PlayStation VR2 headset have started slowly, according to estimates by a research firm.

Bloomberg reports that, according to IDC, Sony will likely have sold around 270,000 units by the end of March.

IDC’s vice president of data and analytics Francisco Geronimo told the publication: “I suspect a price cut on the PSVR 2 will be needed to avoid a complete disaster of their new product.”

He also explained: “Consumers around the world are facing rising costs of living, rising interest rates and increasing layoffs. VR headsets are not top of mind for most consumers under the current economic climate.”

Bloomberg claimed earlier this year that Sony had previously aimed to ship two million PlayStation VR2 units during the headset’s launch quarter, and had then halved those projections to just one million in the first quarter, and 1.5 million between between April 2023 and March 2024.

Sony denied Bloomberg’s previous claims, but so far has reportedly declined to comment on Bloomberg’s latest story. The company has also yet to publicly state how many PS VR2 units have been sold since launch.

Earlier this month Sony’s executive deputy president and chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said he thinks the headset has a “good chance” of outselling the first PlayStation VR, which had sold five million units by the end of 2019.

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PlayStation VR2 launched on February 22, at a price of $549.99 / £529.99. For this, players get the PS VR2 headset, the PS VR2 Sense controllers and stereo headphones. There’s also a $599.99 / £569.99 bundle which includes a PlayStation Store voucher code for launch title Horizon: Call of the Mountain.

Sony initially kicked off PlayStation VR2 pre-orders in November, making them available in selection regions on an invite-only basis to manage expected demand.

However, this invite system eventually ended and players were freely able to pre-order the headset from the PlayStation Direct online store, implying the demand was manageable.