Sony has sold over 1 million PlayStation VR (PSVR) units thus far, and from that data it’s found that owners of the company’s enhanced PS4 Pro console are more likely to pick one up.
Speaking at last week’s Develop:VR event in London Stuart Whyte, Sony London Studio’s director of VR product development, revealed that there’s a high ratio between people that buy PS4 Pro, which can improve the images and performance games that also run on the normal PS4, and also purchase PSVR.
“The ratio of PS4 Pro attachment for PSVR is high,” Whyte said, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz. “One in five PS4s sold now are Pros, but that ratio [for PSVR] on PlayStation Pro is higher again.”
Sadly, Whyte didn’t reveal an exact ratio, but he did note that it was “definitely worth supporting the extra power available on Pro when you’re developing for PSVR”.
It’s not too surprising to learn that PS4 Pro owners are more likely to pick up PSVR, as both devices could still be considered products for the enthusiast. The Pro, for example, is $100 more expensive than the base PS4 and doesn’t have any exclusive games or experiences; it’s literally only for people that might have a 4K screen or want to keep pushing the power of the current generation. PSVR, meanwhile, may be a consumer product but developers are still learning the master this new medium and there are still technological restrictions.
Pro doesn’t erase all of PSVR’s issues, but it does improve image quality and performance in lots of titles.
Whyte also revealed that Sony is ramping up production of the PlayStation Move motion controller that’s compatible with PSVR thanks to its success in the first year. That’s good news for motion-controlled games, though we’re still wondering if the company has a better input device in the works for its headset.
London Studio, meanwhile, is working Blood & Truth, a full first-person shooter PSVR game that builds off of its London Heist demo from the PlayStation VR Worlds collection.
