Despite one of the busiest shopping periods of the year, Black Friday failed to improve sales forecasts of PlayStation VR, with market research firm SuperData stating that VR was the “biggest loser”.
However, it wasn’t that surprising to see no PSVR deals whatsoever over Black Friday weekend, with Sony instead pushing down the price of the PS4 Slim and continuing to market PS4 Pro. Why? Because there’s barely any PSVR’s in stock!
PSVR sales affected by lack of stock
Search online for a PSVR headset and you’ll struggle to find anywhere that has one is stock, which is quite shocking considering we’re about to enter the holiday season.
As a result, SuperData has estimated that 750,000 PSVR units will have been sold in 2016, which is way behind the predicted 2.6 million at this point in its early life cycle. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Stephanie Llama, director of research and insights said:
"PSVR had the best opportunity to benefit from the holidays but their supply inconsistencies and lack of marketing have put them behind their potential. They did not offer any first-party deals this weekend, restock bundles or market the device, pushing instead for the PS 4 Pro. They have also pointed out that VR looks even better on a Pro than a standard or slim PS4, so the message to most gamers is: Get the Pro now, then the PSVR later. As a result, we won’t see them break 1M shipments until well into the new year."
PSVR is a great device that has lots of potential, but at launch it’s suffering from a lack of major titles and only a handful of games that were critically well received. Many of the early VR experiences are fun for 10-15 minutes, but the novelty soon wears off, which may put off early adopters.
SuperData states that Sony may be holding back on pushing the PSVR right now due to supply issues, and that could change in the new year when we’re also expected far more VR games to be released that showcase the superb virtual reality technology.