PSVR coming this October, will retail for $399 USD

Sony has detailed their long-awaited entry in the virtual reality race, the PSVR, and come up with a very competitive price point and a launch date that’ll put the new headset right in the Holiday groove. 

Are you into VR, but have been put off by the high(er) price tags on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive? Do you own a PS4? Well then is today a great day for you!

According to the current video game market leader, the PSVR will retail for just $399.99 USD and land on retail shelves this coming October. Now, before you say that that’s not a price that should have a ‘just’ in front of it, know also that the much-celebrated Oculus Rift (which will be PC compatible) will be $599.99 when it ships out to pre-orderers at the end of this month and take a beast of a PC to run its games. And the HTC Vive? That’ll be even more expensive, coming in at a staggering $799.99 USD, which also doesn’t take into account that PC that you’re probably going to have to pony up for.

So you see, far and away, the PSVR is the champ when it comes to cost. That’s not to say that there aren’t some caveats though. The headset (which you do need a PS4 in order to operate) will be available solo (just the unit) and with the PS Camera peripheral and PS Move controller (it’s baaaaaaaack), though you can reportedly also play with a Dual Shock 4. No word yet on that bundle deal, and the price I mentioned above is for the headset solely.

Personally, I have two Move controllers (barely used PS Move controllers), so that’s no issue for me. As for the Camera, I never saw much of a point to it, so I’ll have to pony up for that. Still, that would mean that I’d be in for about $460 USD before tax if I was to get into the VR race on the Sony end, and that’s a sizable difference from the tags associated with both the Oculus and the Vive.

As for specs, the unit comes with a face-mounted 5.7″ OLED screen, which will run in 1080p. And yes, the frame-rate should be decent with Sony reporting that up to 120fps is possible. The company also makes a point of saying that the PSVR is made “to feel like it’s not there”, which I assume means that it’ll be pretty lightweight too. That’s extremely important if you want to do any kind of lengthy play sessions with it.

Oh, and there’s a Star Wars Battlefront in development right now for the PSVR. Did I mention that?

Pre-orders haven’t opened as of yet for the PSVR, though you can sign up for notice as to when they do via Sony’s PlayStation site, Best Buy, or Amazon.

Source: Games Industry, PlayStation