Sony Fires Back At Concerning PSVR2 Rumors

Rumors in the gaming industry are as old as Mario himself — if not even older — but even the most reputable rumors and reports in the industry can be incorrect. Most gaming rumors are innocent enough, like when that kid in grade school, whose dad worked at Nintendo, said he could unlock Sephiroth in "Super Smash Bros: Melee." But when it comes to the business side of things, rumors carry a lot more weight. 

Fans have known about the existence and specs of the PlayStation VR 2, or PSVR 2, for quite a while now, but its release date wasn't revealed until only a few months ago. It comes out officially on Feb. 22, 2023 as a peripheral to the PlayStation 5 and preorders have been open since November last year. On January 30, 2023, Bloomberg reported that worse-than-expected sales projections based on PlayStation VR 2 preorders caused Sony to halve production numbers of the new console. 

The report came from anonymous insiders who said the corporation "told a supply partner to expect reduced display panel orders." These anonymous sources were said to be familiar with the company's proceedings, and claimed that Sony projected to sell 1.5 million systems before March next year — 500,000 less than the expected 2 million. However, the next day on February 1, 2023, Sony responded to the report and said it had no such plans to discontinue any shipments of the PSVR 2. In a statement obtained by Eurogamer, Sony rebuked the rumor and reaffirmed PlayStation fans that production on the new console wasn't being cut back.

In the comment obtained by Eurogamer, a spokesperson for Sony said the company has not cut production numbers, and that the company is "seeing enthusiasm from PlayStation fans for the upcoming launch." The spokesperson then goes on to name drop some of the PSVR 2's most anticipated upcoming titles, and mentioned that Sony plans to have at least 30 games ready for play on launch. However, the Sony spokesperson confirmed that it won't scale back production on the console, but they did not respond to the claim that Sony's internal sales projections were lower than expected.

The original PSVR console was a peripheral for the PlayStation 4, and despite being exclusive to the console it sold more than 5 million units as of 2020, likely even more now. This puts it ahead of the HTC Vive, which could be used without a specific console, but well behind the Oculus Quest 2, which reportedly sold three times as fast as the PSVR. 

The past few years of PS5 shortages may have affected the sales of the headset, as it doesn't work without the base console, and if players can't get a PS5 there's no point in preordering a PSVR 2. While we don't know whether the PSVR 2 will be as successful as the first headset, if the rumor of preorders being lower than expected is true, it could take some time for the successor to pick up steam.