Sony wishes PlayStation VR had stronger competition
Andrew House says he's not comfortable leading the pack by a wide margin, new category should have multiple platforms succeeding
Skepticism about virtual reality persists, even with the company arguably enjoying the most success in the field. Speaking with Reuters, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House said he's concerned that PlayStation VR has been outselling primary competitors like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive so significantly.
"I'm not entirely comfortable being the market leader in VR by such a margin that seems to be happening right now," House told the wire service. "With such a brand new category you want a variety of platforms all doing well to create that rising tide and create the audience."
Through June of 2017, tracking firm Superdata put the PSVR installed base at more than 1.8 million headsets, compared to 667,000 for the Vive and 383,000 for the Rift. Since then, all three companies have cut prices on their headsets. However, an IDC researcher told Reuters Sony sold an additional 500,000 PSVR units in that time, enough to claim an "unmatched" lead over the other headsets on the market.
House also briefly addressed the success of Nintendo's Switch console, saying the handheld-and-home system hybrid has not been having any impact on PlayStation sales. In a separate interview with Bloomberg this week, House said Nintendo's success was additive to the industry, and reiterated Sony's belief that handheld gaming does not present a significant market opportunity outside of Asia.