Virtual reality might not have caught on as fast as some companies would have liked, but by now it’s abundantly clear that it’s not going away any time soon. While companies like HTC, Samsung and Facebook’s Oculus fight for your attention with headsets for PC and mobile devices, Sony has swooped in with PlayStation VR and made a serious name for itself among enthusiasts. Now, after already admitting that the device sold better than its creators could have predicted, PSVR just nailed a huge sales milestone: one million units sold.
Atsushi Morita, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment in Japan and Asia, recently told reporters that the headset has now cracked the coveted one million sales mark, following its strong performance since launch in late 2016. The solid sales run has been attributed to the PlayStation VR’s relatively low price ($399) in comparison to that of the Oculus Rift ($499 + $99 for controllers) and HTC Vive ($799).
The PlayStation VR also benefits from the fact that Sony’s PlayStation 4 — and PS4 Pro — are the currently leading in console sales over its chief rival, Microsoft’s Xbox One. In terms of actual VR content, a healthy library of titles has developed since the launch of PSVR, and the recent release of Star Trek: Bridge Crew — a VR game where you and friends pilot a starship while actually sitting together in a virtual control room — has been met with near universal acclaim.
With E3 2017 just days away, it’ll be interesting to see how much attention Sony pays to its hot-selling headset, and what new titles it has in the works for the coming year.
