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Fresh PSVR marketing pushed planned with more units heading to retail

PlayStation pledges to renew efforts to promote its virtual reality headset as supply catches up with demand

Sony has been remarkably quiet about its VR offering since last October's launch, but now the platform holder says it's gearing up for a fresh assault.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, hosted by GameSpot and spotted by Upload VR, the president of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida promised more activity was planned to sell PlayStation VR to consumers.

He clarified that Sony has avoided marketing the device heavily since launch as only a limited amount of units were shipped in time for the October 2016 release. However, he indicates the platform holder has since increased production and expects to see more units in the channel soon. Once they are available for consumers to buy, efforts will begin anew.

“So we've been holding back,” Yoshida said. “Our marketing and sales teams have been holding back promoting the system because we didn't have enough units.

“But going forward, because we have enough units moving into the retailers, we will restart promoting the system and games coming up.”

Since PlayStation VR launched in October, only a handful of new titles have been released for it - most notably, Resident Evil VII and Farpoint. Yet Sony was still able to sell 915,000 units worldwide by February, with the platform holder confirming earlier this month that this has passed the 1m mark.

Back in April it was reported that the platform holder was exploring additional markets in which it could sell or install PSVR units, such as arcades and theme parks.

The platform holder has held events to show that more titles are coming to PlayStation VR, such as a showcase in London earlier this year, but it's the company's E3 press conference this week that has perhaps had the most impact in renewing interest in the headset.

Sony showed off six new PSVR titles during its event in Los Angeles, ranging heavy hitters like a VR edition of Bethesda RPG Skyrim to new indie IP Moss. Only one of these titles was given a concrete release date - Final Fantasy XV fishing spin-off Monster of the Deep, due September - but it's safe to assume the platform holder will want to ready a number of its new titles in time for the all important Q4 period.

With Xbox One X arriving November 7th and Switch about to enjoy its first Christmas, it's crucial for Sony to have something exciting and different to sell towards the end of the year, and a fresh batch of PlayStation VR units could well be central to this.

Sony showed off six new PSVR titles during its event in Los Angeles, ranging heavy hitters like a VR edition of Bethesda RPG Skyrim to new indie IP Moss. Only one of these titles was given a concrete release date - Final Fantasy XV fishing spin-off Monster of the Deep, due September - but it's safe to assume the platform holder will want to ready a number of its new titles in time for the all important Q4 period.

With Xbox One X arriving November 7th and Switch about to enjoy its first Christmas, it's crucial for Sony to have something exciting and different to sell towards the end of the year, and a fresh batch of PlayStation VR units could well be central to this.