Sony is continuing to gobble up a large proportion of the virtual reality market with PlayStation VR, but while former president Andrew House was concerned by the lack of competition from other high-end devices earlier in the year, he’ll be happier with these latest results tracking the virtual reality sector through Q3 2017, which spans 1st July through 30th September.
According to the report, PSVR shipped 490,000 units, meaning that it dominated 49 per cent of the overall market. It’s worth noting that this data excludes the “simpler” virtual reality headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR or Google’s Daydream View. Despite that, shipments of high-end headsets surpassed one million units for the first time during the period, suggesting everyone’s doing well.
Interestingly, PlayStation VR is doing particularly positively in its native Japan, where a slew of virtual reality-themed arcades have been popping up of late. “Sony has dominated the Japanese VR headset market since the release of the PS VR, taking more than an 80 per cent share, and will continue to lead as it increases supply of the PSVR headset with bundles featuring new titles,” Canalys analyst Jason Low said.
Earlier today, UK sales analysis firm Chart-Track announced that Black Friday week sales of PSVR were on par with those when the headset launched last year. Other recent reports suggested that Sony had made over $500 million from the sale of virtual reality hardware alone. In other words: PlayStation VR is going nowhere soon. And long may its success continue.
[source canalys.com]
Comments 21
PSVR's biggest competition is Oculus Rift and HTC Vive currently and both of those are a lot more expensive and more complex to set up. HTC Vive, the most expensive, also is the most complex to set up and you need a big area ideally for it to work.
With Sony dropping the Price, its a far more attractive option for gamers. Personally I want more than just 'gaming' from a VR headset and I am not referring to its use as a 3D or standard screen to view games, blurays etc on
I know its considered a 'success' - especially for such an expensive peripheral but with 65m+ consoles, 1-2m headsets is not particularly a large install base. I know it will take time to grow but with 'few' games of interest and limited functionality outside of gaming from my perspective, its still not something I want to invest in - yet.
@BAMozzy Why do you think it has limited functionality outside of gaming? I'd argue the technology has more potential outside of games.
@get2sammyb I was thinking about this the other day, but do you think Oculus and Vive got caught out by how receptive the market has been to VR?
They were very slow to respond (if at all), but PSVR continues to grow.
I had very limited expectations of gen 1 PSVR, but I've been extremely impressed with what we got and what is coming (Doom, Moss...).
@Fight_Teza_Fight I think PSVR is just more accessible. PlayStations are affordable and lots of people have them; the brand is recognisable worldwide; and it's all very easy to setup for a reasonable price.
With Oculus and Vive you need a very powerful computer, and it's also more expensive.
@get2sammyb That's true, but it can't be in their best interest for Sony to dominate the market as much as they are.
It gets eyeballs on the medium, but I would think it's only a matter of time before developers identify PSVR as the ideal/most profitable VR platform to develop for.
I guess that just goes back to the comments made by Andrew House.
@get2sammyb You misunderstand, VR has potentially a LOT of functionality outside of gaming but PSVR itself so far does not. I -
want more than just gaming from VR - especially as my mobility is limited but, as far as I know, PSVR is focused on gaming only and its only other use is as a Screen for 3D/Standard Blurays/games - if you cannot access a TV for some reason.
I want social apps, the ability to visit places of wonder, museums, galleries etc from the comfort of my own home - maybe even go to these with 'friends' in a virtual sense. The ability to watch events - like E3, PSX, Football matches etc via VR from the best seat in the house without leaving my house. Even better to be able to attend with friends and 'chat' as if we were all attending as a group. Things like this are very difficult for me to do in person due to health and disability issues so the opportunity to do all these things virtually is a lot more appealing to me than playing games at the moment.
I know the Potential is massive but at the moment, PSVR seems focused purely on games. That is what I meant by my statement.
I’m loving Skyrim VR. Sure, there are gripes, but just being there is amazing!
This is very heartening for what is essentially a very expensive generation 1 peripheral. Sony really killed it with PSVR in my opinion. Yes it is cheaper and not as advanced as the PC versions but it looks good, feels good and is far more affordable. Once people get used to VR in the home it will begin to blossom more.
@Shepherd_Tallon I hope Sony do recognise the opportunities VR offers outside of gaming. Even within gaming though, the opportunity to be given a front row seat at any of their big briefings - like E3, Gamescom, Paris, PSX etc would be great - especially if you could do this as a 'group' and use a mic to chat - sure beats watching it via a website and having to type - not that PushSquares coverage and chat is handled poorly but I would prefer to attend - at least virtually as I will probably never get to attend physically. Sony also are major sponsors of the Champions League and 'could' arrange some deal to give PSVR owners the opportunity to watch matches (at least the final anyway) from the best seat in the stadium. The possibilities are enormous. So many places of interest that could give people the opportunity to visit virtually. I know Chernobyl is a good example as its too dangerous for people to visit but what about say attending an event in Sydney Opera House? For many, the cost to get to Australia just to attend would make it unrealistic - even if you are 'mobile'.
You could also do 'mundane'(at least for many) things like Shopping. You could for example visit New York and go browsing the shops, make purchases and have them sent to you. Its not that different from browsing an online catalogue I guess but to do it in a Virtual world could be a lot more interesting and you may get a better idea of size and scale of some products. Its not always easy to see how 'big' something is when every item is presented at the same size in the online catalogue.
VR in my opinion is much more interesting and more potential outside of gaming. I know that Sony's PSVR is likely to be more gaming focused because of the need to use it with Playstation but gaming from my PoV is one of the minor uses.
@BAMozzy Ahhh I see what you mean. Yeah, I agree there should be more of this sort of thing.
I'd recommend the Chernobyl thing someone else in the thread mentioned, and in terms of socialising there's a new free "game" called Rec Room that just came out, which is extremely social.
I'm hoping the new Titanic thing comes out, too. (I'm sure it will.)
Sony definitely needs to start working with the various sports leagues to bring broadcasts to VR. This is a potentially large market that could bring in a lot of nongamers who are just looking for the best sports experience. I already have PSVR, but I would be hooked for life if I could watch the Mets in VR.
@BAMozzy all of the things you describe would be amazing. Bt offered the opportunity to watch the champions league final in vr and apparently it was amazing. I would LOVE the opportunity to do the same via ps4. I mean playstation sponsor the competition so it makes sense! And yeah, the opportunity to visit museums and places of interest via vr could be awesome. The potential is huge
@Shepherd_Tallon I don't think live games at a Stadium would be tricky. You just set up a 360 camera in a seat and broadcast live. That way if you are viewing on PSVR, you get the view from that seat and able to look around, be a part of the atmosphere and feel like you are actually sat there. Same principal as attending a briefing at E3 or PSX for example. As its a 'fixed' seat and you are not 'moving' around - like walking around Chernobyl or visiting a museum, its actually easier to do. You don't need to have 'lots' of cameras to cover the whole stadium as if you were walking up to the gates, finding your way to the seat etc.
I can see a VR version of 'PS Home' working too as a VR social space. I think it would need to do more than sell 'avatar' items but it could have a number of games you could play. It could of course have a virtual cinema, theatre, museums etc - inc 'real world' locations - maybe a 'small fee' to look around the Louvre for example in VR via PS VR Home. You could even have a VR imax and pay to watch the latest movies. The shopping could be for 'real world' items - you can pick up a virtual item and look all around it, getting a sense of size etc before buying - much better to see a 3D model that's to scale than a 2D photograph with nothing to give a sense of size. I don't know about you but I have bought stuff online and then been surprised at its size when delivered - not always pleasantly either. Some things being much smaller than I was expecting.
The opportunity to make Sony a lot of money and sell VR by the bucketload is there. If they charged say £3 to watch the Champions League final from the best seat in the stadium, they could sell that 1 seat to 'millions' that should cover any costs incurred for the equipment and a lot cheaper than buying a ticket - let alone any travelling costs. I know I said about attending as a group but all of us would have the same 'seat' but free to look around as if we actually sat in that seat. Same goes foe E3, PSX etc too although I would hope that Sony wouldn't charge for that as its their own show and for their fans and they do live broadcasts for Twitch, youtube etc for free anyway but to attend 'virtually' and be a part of the audience would be a unique experience and something else that could help shift VR to more people. Even if there isn't a 'killer' games app, these opportunities would convince people to invest. I know I would and see 'games' more as a 'bonus'. It would establish VR and as more and more people jump on board, the likelihood that devs would be willing to invest a lot more in VR gaming increases too.
I got to experience PSVR first time last week and I was blown away! Already ordered a couple games on sale. Just waiting for PSVR v2 to launch on UK shores then I'll be jacked in and total immersion
Early adoption is growing and from majority of people who've experienced it have been really impressed. As a gamer for 30 odd years the buzz was exactly the feeling as the first time I experienced Street fighter on SNES, final fantasy 7 on PS1, doom on PC or Tetris on gameboy!
Triple AAAs like Skyrim, Rigs, Batman, Resident Evil 7, Gran Turismo, Dirt, Star Trek, Eve Valkyria, Rez etc. Available in its first year on PSVR futures looking bright imo.
At this point I want to point out psvr has worked when Ive tried it. (Gettin one for Chrimbo woop woop).
The Vive demo units on the otherhand.....
Are always broken!
But, but, but it would be a failure according to "elitists". xD
Psvr is the real deal. It's not a try, or a beta, as some people seem to want it to be. It works, it really works.
"Yeah but the resolution blablablobedibla" it absolutely doesn't matter when you're in your game world. You get used to this resolution in a second. No grid effect, so you forget the screen.
"Yeah interesting but I'll wait for PSVR 2, which will be the real sh..." yeah right, and don't forget to wait for Ps5 either. Oh, no, wait, surely there will be a 6th after that, no ?
Yeah I love my PSVR. Best piece of hardware I invested in years. I like my Ps4, but I love my PSVR.
@Bobobiwan I absolutely agree with everything you say, but I do think people are right in pointing out areas where it can be improved. That's the most exciting thing about PSVR for me — like, it's already an amazing experience, but I can imagine what it will be in 10-20 years, too.
So, what kind of hoops would have to be jumped to get "VR Chat" ported to PSVR?
Even if we can't get that particular app, a massive free-form social-VR app would go a long way toward bringing a permanent social community to the platform.
I watched a few hours worth of videos captured from VR Chat; OMG those freakin' hilarious!!! Though... now that I think about it, VR Chat would likely never get past Sony's review and certification; the ability to import and upload 3D character models would likely violate their submission process or some such rubbish. I guess it would also depend on what exactly Sony would have to host in terms of clientware... if the model were similar to Rec Room, that might actually pass --but I don't know. What do you all think?
Crap if i keep reading these articles im gonna buy one of these things. Man they sound so good. When there is a small price drop im in.
PSVR has made me fall in love with gaming again. Better graphics, bigger open worlds, online connectivity etc- all these things have been great over the last few years but have never felt like the giant leap we've been waiting for, something to compare to that sense of wonder when 3D games like Mario 64 first came out. VR- for me at least- gives me that feeling and reminds me why I fell in love with gaming in the first place.
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