Only PlayStation VR can be a mainstream hit, analyst claims

Of the three big players entering the VR fold this year, only one has a chance of being a mainstream hit.

That’s according to DFC, which claims that the PS4 accessory will not only be the only successful VR player arriving this year, but also that it could propel the PlayStation brand back to the heights of its PS2 glory days.

[Sony] got it right with PlayStation VR. We are still talking about expensive hardware, but compared to all of the other high-end headsets, Sony’s is the only model we see as having an opportunity to attract mainstream consumers,” it said.

With the intense level of VR hype in the media these days, Sony is the only firm poised to see any compelling adoption of VR by consumers. At the least we think that just having the option to upgrade to VR will be a major driver of continued PlayStation 4 sales and could help cement Sony’s lead as the market leader for this generation of consoles.

The Sony brand has been tarnished over the past decade and it is products like PlayStation VR that can help bring it back.”

So confident is DFC in the PlayStation VR’s prospects that it even thinks it will dent the prospects of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

To be a blunt this could be a knockout blow for the mass market appeal of those systems,” DFC added. VR is a very hands-on physical product and really requires a retail experience. This is what Sony has excelled at over the years and the ability to do marketing and PR to the masses is a huge advantage.

Combine that with a major price advantage and it is hard to see how a Vive or Rift competes beyond the early adopter stage who pre-order systems.”