Sony Delays Virtual-Reality Launch
March 15 2016 - 9:40PM
Dow Jones News
TOKYO—Sony Corp. delayed the release of its PlayStation VR
virtual-reality system by several months, giving competitors a
half-year head start on a technology expected to create a major
market.
The headset for the flagship PlayStation 4 console will go on
sale globally in October, Sony said, after previously saying it
would become available by June. It will cost $399 in the U.S., €399
($443) in Europe, £ 349 ($499) in the U.K and ¥ 44,980 ($395) in
Japan.
Sony said it pushed back the launch to ensure it ships enough
units and has a wide variety of software available.
At a press event Tuesday on the sidelines of the Game Developers
Conference in San Francisco, Sony PlayStation chief Andrew House
said more than 50 games will be available between October and the
end of the year. One of them: the exclusive virtual-reality version
of Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Star Wars Battlefront" at launch.
Virtual reality, which provides users with an immersive
experience, is expected to generate a huge market in the coming
years, with applications far beyond videogames, including travel,
health care and education. Researchers at Gartner Inc. forecast
nearly 40 million headsets will be sold world-wide by 2020.
PlayStation VR's main rivals include the $599 Oculus Rift from
Facebook Inc. and the $799 Vive from HTC Corp., scheduled for
release later this month and in April, respectively—well ahead of
Sony's headset.
Even with the delay, analysts see advantages for Sony. The Rift
and Vive, already priced higher than the PlayStation VR, require
high-end Windows computers to operate—bringing the total cost to
more than $1,500.
The total cost for Sony's system, including a $349.99
PlayStation 4 console, will be less than $1,000. Sony said it has
sold 36 million PS4 consoles world-wide.
"Sony is better positioned than its rivals when it comes to
attracting casual users, and I don't think the release timing would
be a problem as long as the product is ready by the coming year-end
holiday season," said Yu Okazaki, an analyst at Nomura
Securities.
It could be a crowded shopping season in the videogame aisle.
Sony rival Nintendo Co. is preparing a next-generation system
code-named "NX," which some analysts believe could be available as
early as October. It isn't clear whether the NX would compete
directly against PlayStation VR, as Nintendo has released few
details about the system.
As growth slows for traditional videogames—challenged by
free-to-play smartphone games—Sony has been broadening its
PlayStation offerings beyond gaming to capture a wider
audience.
The latest addition is PlayStation Vue, a cloud-based
live-streaming TV service that became available in U.S. cities this
week.
Write to Takashi Mochizuki at takashi.mochizuki@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 15, 2016 21:25 ET (01:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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