2016 marked the year where virtual reality gaming made the big push into the mainstream, with the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR all having their long-awaited launches. While none of the big three really lit up the sales charts or featured any games that were must-haves, Sony’s virtual reality headset has done the best in the sales department so far.
Now Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has spoken about how the PlayStation VR headset is doing at the recent Sony CES Keynote in Los Angeles, where he said that the headset is off to a great start. He said “PlayStation VR launched last October and gave us a great start also through the Holiday Season as well. So with PlayStation VR we’re able to provide you dramatic, transformational new gaming experience, and our ambitions for VR aren’t limited just to gaming.”
He also announced a new VR experience from Sony Music Entertainment called Carry Me: The VR Experience, which is available now for $1.99. It’s described as the following:
“Inspired by the hit song “Carry Me” by superstar electronic musician Kygo, this revolutionary new music experience transports you into a stunning visual world and immerses you within beautiful environments of oceans, forests, mountains, skies and a final epic sweep of the cosmos. Feel the incredible sensation of seamlessly floating upward as you continually scale larger throughout your journey into the world of Kygo. A true must see for music fans!”
Despite Sony apparently being happy with how VR is going for them, it definitely did not live up to the expectations that were originally put on it for any of the big three in 2016. Analytics firm SuperData originally estimated that Sony’s VR device would sell 2.6 million by the end of 2016, though they then downgraded that to just 750k. This still puts it ahead of the Vive’s estimates of 450K and the Rift’s estimates of 355K.
