Sony Expects PlayStation VR Shortages

Sony Interactive Entertainment president Andrew House expects there to be shortages of the company’s PlayStation VR headset.

“We have growing confidence that we’ll be supply constrained with this product, but we’ll do our very best to meet demand,” House told CNBC.com. “Virtual reality is a medium that’s in its infancy. With such a nascent, very new form of storytelling, it’s difficult to predict what user uptake is going to be.”

PlayStation VR is slated to launch October 13 for $399, Sony confirmed during E3. Fifty games are expected to be launched between the headset release date and the end of the year.

“We’re obviously very excited about the overall future potential for virtual reality and we think it’s the right opportunity to start to build a market,” House said. “But we need to keep reminding ourselves that you’re requiring a very different user engagement than we have seen previously.”

House continued: “The experiences we are delivering are truly transformative for gaming and that will inspire a certain audience. How large that audience is remains to be seen.”

Sony revealed several new VR games for PlayStation VR—including Star Wars Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission and Batman: Arkham VR. Square Enix has also added PlayStation VR capabilities to Final Fantasy XV.

Additionally, Sony is releasing the PlayStation VR Aim Controller to serve as a 1:1 weapon for in-game use. Developer Impulse Gear is among the first to utilize the controller with space adventure VR game Farpoint.