As we get ever closer to the ‘Early 2023‘ release window for the PS5’s PS VR2 peripheral that was recently outlined, we’re now learning some details about the manufacturing process, and what will be available to players when that ‘Early 2023’ window finally arrives.
The big news comes from Bloomberg‘s Takashi Mochizuki who claims, based upon reports from trusted sources that the manufacturing of the upcoming headset has begun in September, and, thankfully, no supply chain constraints have impeded the production of the device to date. What was most interesting was the fact that apparently, PlayStation expects to have manufactured two million of them by March 2023. Whether or not March ends up being the launch month for the platform of course remains to be seen, however, two million is a very specific number to simply line up with what is a very viable release window for the headset.
The report stated,
Sony Group Corp. plans to make 2 million units of the PlayStation VR2 headset by March next year, people familiar with the matter said, setting an ambitious outlook that defies the global economic malaise.
Mass production of the virtual reality goggles began in September and hasn’t yet faced supply chain constraints, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The production figure could be adjusted depending on the device’s sales momentum once it’s released early next year.
PlayStation has been very gradually building up the momentum for PS VR2 all year, from State Of Play presentations year-round, where we’ve seen the reveal of games such as Horizon Call Of The Mountain, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution, Resident Evil Village in VR, and more recently, Firewall: Ultra, but to name just a few titles, and have also received some fascinating technical tidbits as well, amongst more controversial, but unsurprising, news that original PS VR titles will not be compatible with the device.
The momentum is presumably going to keep building over the coming months, to culminate with the ‘Early 2023’ launch, but with Sony promising a minimum of 20 games coming to the platform to come at launch, no official release date, nor any pricing details either, it’s easy enough to project the beats that are to come for the platform. When and where PlayStation intend to announce such details though remains to be seen, and in 2022 the company has been far quieter when it comes to discussing it’s upcoming titles than it has historically been, obviously then making their activities harder to predict.
Two million PS VR2 headsets manufactured is a fantastic start, and with what is proclaimed to be a fairly large library of games being available on day one, those anticipating the platform should remain with their clicking fingers poised, ready to lay down some hard-earned on the coming machine.
