This week Sony confirmed that it had now sold two million units of its PlayStation VR (PSVR) headset, which is largely thought (though completely unconfirmed) to be more than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have sold thus far. But Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida isn’t boasting about the company’s success; he actually thinks it’s good for its rivals, too.
Yoshida said as much in a recent interview with Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller during the 2017 PlayStation Experience. “Actually when you talk about other VR people, because VR is such a passion project for all of us, not just our teams who worked on PSVR but Palmer [Luckey] and those Oculus guys who jumped on that early and Valve guys preaching and teaching lots of research they’ve been doing, it’s a small community,” he explained when he was asked why he thought PSVR had taken off. “And we respect each other and discuss. So we have this same kind of passion and goal to make this amazing new medium in the hands of lots of people.”
For that reason, Yoshida thinks PSVR’s success helps elevate the entire community, not just Sony. “So, I think, the success of any of us, is the success of all of us,” he continued. “Because, [with] VR you have to experience it to really understand the potential of this new medium. That’s the most difficult part, we were struggling. You have to communicate; you can just show the trailer because the experience is different.
“Getting more people to try good VR for the first time is a win for all of us. We are working on good VR.”
Sony had a big showing for PSVR at this weekend’s event, announcing Wipeout and The Last Guardian VR experiences among other things. And, with the headset going on sale for just $199 next week, it’s looking like PSVR will continue to have strong sales going into the new year. Here’s hoping, at least.
