Analyst Predicts Mainstream Success for Playstation VR Only

The market analyst firm DFC has made the prediction that Sony’s entry to the virtual reality gaming sector will win big and propel Playstation on to even greater heights.

As reported by MCV, DFC said that Playstation VR will trounce its competition in the VR world, which currently comprises of HTC Vive and the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift.

Of the three virtual reality headsets, DFC expects that PS VR will be the only one to achieve mainstream successes. Despite the fact that PS VR is noticeably less capable under the hood than the Oculus Rift, on the plus side is that Sony’s headset is the considerably cheaper of the group.

The price tag will certainly be a major factor in making the most popular VR headset. PS VR’s price tag of $399 is already comfortably below the $799 and $599 respective prices of HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

However, add in the need for the PS console — roughly equal to $399—and the need for an $800-plus gaming PC for Vive and Oculus headsets, and Sony’s VR gear becomes a lot more appealing to the mainstream gamer. This is of course compounded by the fact that living room consoles—especially PS4s—are much more popular than high end gaming desktops.

Indeed, DFC believes that Sony is the only major virtual reality headset producer who has any significant chance of generating ‘compelling adoption or VR’. The firm said that they would expect that an option to ‘upgrade’ Playstation 4 ownership to include PS VR would cement the console’s position as market leader.

DFC doesn’t just think that PS VR will be the most successful of the lot; the firm even went as far as saying that it could blow its competition completely out of the water. DFC said that the ‘hands-on’ nature of VR requires a ‘retail experience’, something that Sony is highly adept at. Sony’s marketing talents, alongside their cheaper pricing point, made DFC think that Vive and Rift may struggle to convert anyone other than the early adopters.

Playstation VR will release in October 2016 for $399/£349.