Sony’s virtual reality headset will cost as much as a new console

There are a bunch of companies working on their own virtual reality headset at the moment, and while they love talking about how great their product is, there’s one bit of information that all of them have shied away from: the price. Even when Oculus VR announced that the final version of the Oculus Rift will go on sale early next year, the company avoided mentioning the price directly. Sony is doing the same thing with the PlayStation VR (renamed from Project Morpheus), but at least the company has given us a better idea of what to expect. According to Sony’s Andrew House, the headset will cost the same as a new gaming platform when it launches early next year, which means it should be somewhere between $300 and $500.

PlayStation VR won’t be priced like a headset, controller, or other standard PS4 accessory when it comes out next year. Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House told Bloomberg the virtual reality headset, formerly known as Project Morpheus, will be priced like a new gaming platform, rather than an accessory. House wasn’t willing to talk specifics, which still leaves a few hundred dollars worth of wiggle room. At least you can rest easy knowing PlayStation VR probably won’t be as expensive as Sony’s old head-mounted displays (the HMZ-T2 still lists for $799.99), even if it does kinda look like one. Speaking of VR’s cost-of-entry, we still don’t know what price Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will be when they start rolling out to the public in 2016. It’s worth keeping in mind that none of these are discrete systems; they’ll all require a suitable PC (or console) to power them. Both the Rift and the Vive will require some fairly powerful/expensive hardware, so PlayStation VR has a good shot at being the least-expensive option overall. You’ll have a decent selection of stuff to play on PlayStation VR, at least for the first year; House said Sony plans to put out more than 10 games for PlayStation VR throughout 2016.