Last year Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) answered one of the 3 big questions about its virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) by revealing its final name as PlayStation VR. The announcement was made at its Tokyo Game Show (TGS) press conference in Japan. That still leaves 2 of the biggest details to reveal: pricing and release date. So far we’ve only heard that the kit will be launching in the first half of 2016 but, today, the company confirmed final details for both the PlayStation VR price and release date.
The anticipated device will launch in October 2016, pitting it outside of the initial launch window for $399 USD/£349 GBP. This news was shared during SCE’s PlayStation VR update event at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2016 today. As expected, this pits the device after the arrival of the HTC Vive, which will launch on 5th April 2016, and the Oculus Rift, which is launching on 28th March. Pre-orders for the former went live in February, while Oculus Rift’s campaign launched in January.
PlayStation VR features a 1080p OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. This screen is even capable of ‘reprojecting’ experiences that run in 60fps natively over to 120fps in-HMD. This takes some of the pressure off of the performance of VR compatible titles, which ideally need to be running at a minimum of 90fps for experiences to convince players that they have stepped into another world entirely. SCE has been building a large content library for the kit over the past two years, including high profile titles such as Tekken 7, Gran Turismo Sport, and Rez HD.
VRFocus will continue to follow PlayStation VR closely, reporting back with the latest updates on the kit.
