Unsold PSVR2 headsets cause Sony to reportedly pause production

Sony is reportedly pausing production of its PSVR2 headsets, an accessory for the PS5, due to a backlog of unsold units.

• READ MORE: ‘The Light Brigade’ review: a riveting virtual reality roguelike

As reported by Bloomberg, people familiar with Sony’s plans have claimed that the company has paused production of the PSVR2 until it manages to sell the backlog that has accrued. Sony has apparently produced “well over 2 million units” of the PSVR2, but has sold just 1.3 million since launch.

According to Macquarie analyst Yijia Zhai, interviewed by Bloomberg, “The high price of VR hardware acts as the main hurdle for its expansion.” This is compounded by the relatively small amount of VR titles available for players, which is in turn caused by “the development cost for VR games [being] substantially higher than normal titles.”

The PSVR2 accessory retails at £529.99, while a new PS5 slim costs £409.99, more than £100 cheaper than the headset. Since a PS5 is required to make use of the headset, the total cost comes up to over £900, which could be part of the reason players aren’t buying the new VR technology.

One issue that might explain part of the reason sales of the PSVR2 haven’t been great is that the PSVR2 has just a handful of first-party games: Horizon Call of the Mountain, Gran Turismo 7, and Firewall Ultra. The headset is not backwards compatible with PSVR games either, meaning players are very limited by the new technology.

This news comes shortly after it was announced Sony was shutting down its PlayStation London division and laying off developers there. The studio was working primarily on VR games. Also affected in recent Sony layoffs was Guerilla Games, the studio that created Horzion Zero Dawn and PSVR2 launch title Horizon Call of the Mountain.