Oculus Rift has officially launched the first volleys in the VR war, but there are two other players still waiting to move into the arena. One of these is PlayStation VR, and Sony is insisting on reminding us of just what an exciting proposition a VR headset made by one of the leading consumer electronics companies in the world, backed by the platform holder of the leading console this generation, could be.
Speaking to the BBC after CES, Sony’s Kaz Hirai discussed the PlayStation VR, revealing that over a hundred games were in development for the VR headset, a testament to Sony’s developer relations. This kind of emphasis on games, and the kind of development support Sony is enlisting, will allow them to deliver the best, most immersive VR games- which is what will set the PlayStation VR apart from other VR products on the market, Hirai said.
Eventually, once VR has started to gain a foothold, thanks to gaming, Sony may look into expanding the reach of the medium.
“With the install base of the PlayStation 4 now close to 36 million units, that there in of itself is a huge audience we’re going to cater to,” Hirai said, “and once we have a lot of people who are really into virtual reality through games I think then we’ll be able to expand beyond gaming, especially because we have a lot of content that we create ourselves at Sony Pictures Entertainment.”
The PlayStation VR is set to launch some time later this year. As of right now, we don’t know when it wil launch, or how much it will cost.