Introducing Sony PlayStation VR Will Cost $399 When It Arrives in October

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SAN FRANCISCO — Sony Computer Entertainment is hoping to ride the coattails of its top-selling game console, the PlayStation 4, to gain traction in a new market: virtual reality.

On Tuesday, the company said its PlayStation VR, its virtual reality headset that connects with a PlayStation 4, would cost $399 when released in October. The PlayStation VR includes a 5.7-inch screen and multiple sensors for 360-degree head tracking, or the ability to follow where the viewer looks.

In order to use the virtual-reality accessory, consumers will also have to buy the PlayStation Camera, which costs $44. When combined with the price of a PlayStation 4, which is $349, the total cost of owning a PlayStation VR system would be roughly $800. Some consumers may also buy the Move, Sony’s motion-based controller, which costs $40, to use with the new device.

“We leveraged our expertise across engineering and industrial design to create a VR system with the most compelling experiences,” said Andrew House, the chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, on stage at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The PlayStation VR is intended to give Sony a head start in the expanding virtual reality market. While rivals like the Facebook Oculus and HTC have made headlines with their virtual-reality devices, their headsets generally require expensive, powerful computers to run the software. Sony, by contrast, already has a customer base hooked to an existing device: To date, it has sold more than 36 million PlayStation 4 units, which are high-powered computers capable of running virtual reality apps and games.


Sony’s device — even when bundled with the PlayStation 4 and other elements — also undercuts the price of the Oculus and HTC headsets. Oculus is selling its Oculus Rift headset for $599, or $1,500 when combined with a computer. The Vive from HTC costs $800 for the headset, and a computer that supports it would cost more than $1,000.

John Koller, a Sony executive, said the company left the camera out of the VR package because many PlayStation owners already have one. He noted that the Move controllers were only required for some games.

“We wanted to make sure we had an accessible price for the gaming community,” Mr. Koller said about the PlayStation VR’s price tag. “Having low barriers to entry and having as many games as possible is really critical to us.”

Another advantage for Sony will be marketing the device, said Jan Dawson, an independent technology analyst for Jackdaw Research. The most obvious application for virtual reality is hard-core gaming, so it will be easier for Sony to market the devices to its gaming customers than it will be for Oculus and HTC to start from scratch, he said.

“Sony has a huge edge over others,” Mr. Dawson said.

At the event on Tuesday, Mr. House said more than 230 developers were creating content for PlayStation VR. He said the company was planning to release the device in October as more compelling games are expected to be available then.

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