Sony has officially given the PlayStation VR a pretty big price drop, slapping the new tag on headset bundles across the United States and Canada.
That means late adopters or PS4 owners who are still on the fence about the wearable can now take it out for a spin without burning a hole in their pockets — not as big as before, that is.
PlayStation VR Price Drop: How Much Does PSVR Cost Now?
Going straight to the nitty-gritty details, the PSVR packaged with the PlayStation Camera, which the headset requires to work, will now hold customers back by $399 USD or $499 CAD. Sony calls it the "core PSVR bundle."
Now that price used to include only the PSVR itself, and needless to say, gamers had to buy the PlayStation Camera separately for $59 to start using the headset. To do the math real quick, the price cut translates to a $59 drop, essentially taking the camera's cost out of the equation.
That's not all that's in store either. The PSVR Worlds bundle will be available at $449 USD or $579 CAD. That package consists of a PSVR headset, a PlayStation Camera, two PlayStation Move controllers, and a copy of PlayStation VR Worlds. For the record, the original launch price was $499, or in other words, Sony slashed it down by $50.
Both the core PSVR bundle and the PSVR Worlds bundle are slated to hit the shelves starting on Sept. 1.
"This is a great time to jump into the PlayStation VR experience, with a huge lineup of over 100 games, including recent favorites like Arizona Sunshine, SUPERHOT VR, Tiny Trax, Fantastic Contraption, and Dino Frontier," Sony says.
The VR Headset Competition
The PSVR entered the VR scene along the likes of the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, and among the brood, it was the affordable option. By "was," we mean that it used to be the relatively more accessible platform for virtual reality until Oculus and HTC cut the prices off of their products by $200.
To get a better picture, Oculus dropped its headset's price from $599 to $499 and its Oculus Touch controllers from $199 to $99, totaling to $598. Meanwhile, HTC cut down its headset's initial price from $799 to $599.
Presumably, Sony followed suit to stay relevant in the heated competition, reclaiming the PSVR's so-called selling point as the most affordable VR headset. The company also promises a growing roster of games to boot.
To boil things down, the prices of today's commercial VR headsets are now lower than before, with the PSVR at $399 or $449, the Oculus Rift at $499 or $598 (with the Oculus Touch controllers), and the HTC Vive at $599.
