It’s been a tough first year for the PlayStation VR 2. Highly touted as a game-changer, the headset was set to launch in early 2023 at a similar price to the console itself, but Sony has significantly scaled back its development plans for new virtual reality games. But if the PSVR 2 is ever going to get a chance to shine, it might be now. From early August, the headset will be compatible with PC (in addition to the PS5), and ahead of the PC launch, the PSVR 2 will be available at its lowest price ever for a limited time.
Currently, you can get the PSVR2 at a huge discount of $200, making it quite affordable at $349. The sale runs through August 5th at Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and PlayStation, and includes two PSVR2 Sense controllers, which are required for hand tracking. If you’re planning on buying Horizon Call of the Mountain, the virtual reality spinoff of Horizon Forbidden West, you can save an extra $10 on a game that would normally cost $60 by purchasing a $399 bundle that includes the headset and the game. Horizon Call of the Mountain might be the best PSVR2 exclusive title. If you’ve already bought a headset, it’s worth spending an extra $50 on a great game to get into VR.
Sony will be discounting the PSVR2 for a short period of time ahead of the launch of PC compatibility.
Tomohiro Osumi/Getty Images
The only problem is that we don’t expect to see many PSVR2 exclusives in the future. Sony has reportedly cut funding for VR games recently, leaving it with just two first-party PSVR2 games in development. This report from Android Central comes from an anonymous source, but it seems to fit with Sony’s lack of success with its VR headset. Sony closed one of its flagship VR development companies, London Studio, and laid off employees at Firesprite, co-developer of Horizon Call of the Mountain.
The deal itself could be seen as a sign of Sony’s desperation: The company reportedly overestimated the popularity of the PSVR 2 and produced far more units than demand necessitated, leading it to halt production of the headset until its old stock was sold off.
So why should you buy a PSVR2 at this point? Well, it’s certainly not a good idea for everyone, but there are some compelling new reasons at this point. For one, the $200 discount makes it a pretty cheap VR headset compared to the $500 Meta Quest 3 (assuming you already own a PS5).
Horizon Call of the Mountain remains the most compelling reason to choose PSVR 2 over other options.
Sony
For Sony, the price cut couldn’t come at a better time. Starting August 7, the PSVR 2 will be PC compatible, opening up a world of VR gaming for the headset. Until now, PSVR 2 games could only be purchased from the PlayStation Store, which is more limited than the Meta Quest games marketplace. You also needed a PS5 to play it, which you had to pay around $1,000 to buy. Some of the PSVR 2’s most touted features, like haptic feedback, aren’t available on PC, and you have to buy a pricey $60 PC adapter to get it to work, but the PSVR 2 is still one of the cheapest options for VR on PC.
There’s plenty of reason to be skeptical of the PSVR 2’s long-term prospects, but you don’t need to be a die-hard fan to take advantage of the Summer Sale’s offers. It’s still a solid VR headset, albeit limited, and it’s soon to be one of the cheaper PC options, as well as your only option for playing VR games on PS5. If you’re on the fence about buying one, you probably won’t find a better deal than what’s on right now.
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