It’s been six months since virtual reality debuted to the consumer market. Initiated by Oculus Rift, and later HTC Vive, its long-awaited debut was met with open arms. Most critics were impressed with the experiences offered by both HMDs, and technology enthusiasts confirmed that it was the next big step for gaming. However, most consumers watched from the sidelines, put off by abrasive pricing.
Since that time a handful of new games and VR supporting media has arrived, but VR has largely faded from mainstream. Anecdotes, software sales data, and hardware availability indicate that sales of the two HMDs have slowed down substantially over the course of the year. Given the incredibly expensive research and development required to release both to market, it’s been a worrying trend for both VR fans and investors alike.
Judging by reception, the problem has very little to do with the quality of the current generation of HMDs, or to a certain extent the software as there are some mesmerizing experiences available on both devices. The majority of the low early adoption problem lies in the fact that VR technology is way out of the price range of most consumers.
Next week Sony’s PlayStation VR will join the line-up of currently available consumer grade VR hardware. While it might fall shortly behind in terms of image quality and graphics potential, it excels in the area which could matter most: pricing.
PlayStation VR is ready to release with a $399 price tag, which is substantially more affordable than its $599 and $799 competitors. Perhaps more importantly, the hardware needed to run it will be available in two reasonably price SKUs (PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro). Consumers will no longer require hardware pushing into the thousands of dollars in order to experience VR.
Anecdotally, the popularity of the device speaks to its potential. There are several high profile VR YouTubers who have remarked about how much more viewership their PSVR pieces are getting than what they’ve been doing for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. For example, UKRifter shared the following on Twitter today:
This popularity is exactly what VR needs right now, and one could argue that it’s what it deserves.
Affordability is something that won’t come to the Oculus Rift and/or HTC Vive without iteration, which could take years as manufacturing processes are optimized. These are years that the VR industry might not even have.
PSVR has an opportunity to give the technology a mainstream presence, enlighten consumers as they get to experience it for their first time, and then grow the market from there. For the sake of VR’s future, we can only hope that it has great success.
