The VR revolution is almost upon us, and Sony is looking to catch up to its competitors. Sony has reportedly sent out invitations to a PlayStation VR-focused event on March 15, during the annual Game Developers Conference. Many are taking this development to mean that something big is on the way.
Sony has been fairly quiet about the matter, and not much is known about the upcoming event beyond the time, date, place and the demos that will be available after the presentation is over. However, there are rumblings that Sony will use this time to announce a price and release date for the highly anticipated PlayStation VR.
These rumors are not necessarily unfounded. The GDC, as it explains on its website, is "the primary forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry." As such, it isn't usually the place to make such reveals. However, Sony broke this "protocol" once before in 2014 when it unveiled PlayStation VR - or Project Morpheus as it was known at the time.
Furthermore, Sony's competitors in the VR market, Oculus and HTC/Valve, have already announced prices, release dates and even have pre-orders for their products available. GDC 2016 would not only mark an anniversary for the PlayStation VR but it would also present a prime opportunity for Sony to catch up with the others who are already ahead of the game.
The road to reach this point has been a long one with rumors and rumblings about pricing and release dates aplenty. In January, an Amazon Canada page was displaying a $1,125.35 price for PlayStation VR, translating to just more than $800 U.S., as well as a Dec. 31, 2016 release date.
The authenticity of the information was difficult to ascertain, since while the info did appear on the official Sony vendor account, a Dec. 31 release date is commonly used as a placeholder, and a $800 price point is far too high considering its specs. In addition, the information contradicted two other credible sources who had already weighed in on the matter. Last year, Sony CEO Andrew House said to expect the PS VR to cost about the same as a new console, while last month GameStop CEO Paul Raines said the headset would be arriving in the fall.
Sony soon clarified the situation in a statement, saying that the listing was an error by Amazon and a price for the PS VR has yet to be announced. The statement went on to note that the headset is "still" scheduled for the first half of 2016.
It's anyone's guess when the PS VR will actually arrive, but it's still possible to at least estimate its price even without House's testimony. We already know that the Oculus Rift will cost $600, while the HTC Vive will cost $800. Since both require more powerful hardware than a PS4 to run and are more advanced in terms of physical specs, then it would be safe to assume that the PlayStation VR would cost less than both.
Of course whether any of these assumptions pan out, or if it does makes the announcement at the GDC, depends entirely on Sony, which has remained frustratingly tight-lipped about the whole affair.
