Sales of PlayStation VR2 are off to a slow start

According to the IDC, Sony’s PlayStation VR2 (PS VR2) is underperforming in its first-month unit sales and "needs" a price cut to prevent a "complete disaster."

The details:

• According to Bloomberg’s report, analysts at research firm IDC estimate that Sony’s new VR headset will have sold 270,000 units within its first month. Bloomberg had previously reported that Sony had targeted two million sales within the first quarter before lowering its expectations to one million and then to 1.5 million within the next year. These claims were dismissed by Sony, but it has not stated how many headsets have been sold so far despite Executive Deputy President and Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki stating that he believes the new headset has a "good chance" of outselling the original model.
• Francisco Geronimo, Vice President of Data and Analytics at IDC, has stated that a price cut is required to avoid a "complete disaster of their new product," as "VR headsets are not top of mind for most consumers under the current economic climate." The headset was released in February for $549.99 in a standard bundle that included the headset, two Sense motion controllers, and a pair of stereo headphones. Many of its titles, however, have been re-releases of games that were previously playable on the original PS VR, with the new release, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, being used to try and boost headset sales.
• Sony also faces stiff competition, as Meta recently reduced the price of its Quest 2 headset, allowing those interested in VR to purchase it for around $400 or less. Although the $549.99 price tag of the PS VR2 may not appear to be much of an increase, the headset does not function fully, if at all, on any system other than a PlayStation 5, which means that gamers who were interested in the device would need to purchase a new console if they don't own a PS5, bringing the total cost up to around $1,000.

More Sony news:

• The Last of Us Part I's PC port has been widely panned for its current buggy state, with many players requesting refunds due to constant crashes and stutters. Naughty Dog has since acknowledged the concerns and released a patch to resolve the game-breaking issues.
• Sony is reportedly developing the PlayStation 5 Pro, which is targeted for a 2024 release. The hardware improvements to the console are unknown, but Mark Cerny, a PS5 architect, has filed a patent for systems that enable "accelerated ray tracing," which could be introduced with the Pro.
• Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will be released in September. After inadvertently leaking the release date while responding to a fan on Twitter, Venom voice actor Tony Todd also stated that "massive publicity" would arrive in August, implying that Insomniac is opting to go all-in on marketing in a short period rather than a longer pre-release strategy.