Sony has announced on the PlayStation Blog today that standalone PlayStation VR pre-orders will begin on March 29th.
From tomorrow, March 22nd, until the 29th, the only way to get one of Sony’s upcoming headsets will be to pre-order a $499 bundle which includes a PlayStation Camera, PlayStation Move controllers, and PlayStation VR Worlds, a collection of virtual reality games. The PlayStation VR headset is available on its own for $399.
“Thanks to everyone for sharing their feedback on PlayStation VR pre-orders!” John Koller, vice president of PlayStation brand marketing, wrote in the PlayStation Blog update. “It’s clear that there’s a lot of interest from many of you to secure the PlayStation VR core system, and I’m happy to share that we’ve decided to make it available for pre-order on Tuesday, March 29, at 7:00 a.m. PT at participating retailers.”
Sony announced last week at GDC that it plans to launch PlayStation VR worldwide this October and expects more than 50 games will be released for the platform by the end of 2016. The platform holder also announced that 230 developers are currently working on PlayStation VR games.
Every PlayStation VR headset sold will make a profit and games will cost the same as regular titles, ranging from $10-$60.
Analysts expect Sony to sell eight million PlayStation VR headset by the end of 2018 and dominate the remainder of the current console cycle without a response from Microsoft, whose HoloLens AR technology is still years away and focused on enterprise.
We’ll sure to learn a lot more about PlayStation VR and the games coming to it at E3 and other events throughout the year. Pre-orders of the standalone headset are likely to go fast once live so if you’re looking to nab one, it’s best to stay on your toes.
