Sony’s virtual reality headset might support PCs in the future

For obvious reasons, Sony’s games and gaming-related products are almost always exclusive to the PlayStation, but that might not be the case with the company’s upcoming virtual reality headset. Known as the PlayStation VR, this headset is significantly cheaper than its competitors, which is why it was so exciting for PC gamers to hear Masayasu Ito, the senior vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment, claim in an interview with Nikkei on Sunday that support for PCs might be added to the PlayStation VR in the future. It would definitely be a smart move on Sony’s part, because being $200 and $400 cheaper than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, respectively, would give the PlayStation VR a big advantage.

PC gamers holding out for a cheaper VR headset than the freshly-launched Oculus Rift might someday get their wish from Sony’s PlayStation VR. In an interview with Nikkei, Sony Computer Entertainment Senior Vice President Masayasu Ito suggested that the PlayStation VR could get PC support in the future. For now, Sony will require a PlayStation 4 console to use with the headset. “Since Playstation 4 shares a lot of its internals with PCs, the possibility is there,” Ito said, as translated by SegmentNext. “At the moment we are focused on games and we are not ready to make any announcements at this stage, but I’d say there will be an expansion into various fields.” Sony plans to release the PlayStation VR in October, and pre-order bundles quickly sold out last week. The headset itself will sell for $399, far less than the $599 Oculus Rift and HTC’s $799 Vive headset. The cost of a PlayStation 4 console, currently $350, is also much lower than a Rift- or Vive-ready gaming PC, which start at around $950. Despite being much cheaper than the competition, Sony is selling the PlayStation VR at a profit, Game Informer reported earlier this month. If PC support ever happened, it’s possible the price won’t change much even though Sony won’t have the same console ecosystem to lean on.