Sony has revealed that its virtual reality headset will cost $399, significantly cheaper than rivals Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Although the PlayStation VR is seen as being less advanced than its two rivals, many experts think it will outsell them. The price point makes it $200 cheaper than Facebook’s rival Oculus Rift and $400 […]
Sony has revealed that its virtual reality headset will cost $399, significantly cheaper than rivals Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Although the PlayStation VR is seen as being less advanced than its two rivals, many experts think it will outsell them.
The price point makes it $200 cheaper than Facebook’s rival Oculus Rift and $400 less than HTC’s Vive.
Retailers have confirmed that the UK price – which includes the VAT sales tax – will be £350. BY comparison, Oculus Rift will be £499.
However, the disclosure that it will not be released until October means Sony will fail to meet its earlier target of the first half of 2016.
The Japanese company also revealed that it expects more than 50 games tailored to its headset will be available at its launch.
It made its announcement in San Francisco to coincide with the city’s Games Developers Conference.
The research firm IHS has forecast that about 53 million people will own a PlayStation 4 console – which is required to use the new PlayStation VR – by the end of this year.
It predicts 1.6 million people will buy Sony’s headset before 2017 and that the biggest limit on sales will be the speed at which it can manufacture the device.
Sony published an image of what the $399 fee covers, confirming that its Move controllers and camera are not included in the price
By contrast, HTC and Oculus rely on gamers owning a relatively high-end Windows PC, which adds to their costs.
One consequence is that both the Vive and the Rift should be able to run games with more advanced graphics. They both also offer higher resolution displays and wider fields of view, which could make their games seem more immersive.
But the PlayStation VR provides a faster refresh rate – allowing it to display 120 frames per second, rather than the 90fps limit of its rivals – which should make its games seem smoother and less likely to cause motion sickness.
