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Sony Details PlayStation VR Release Date

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Sony takes to the 2016 Games Developer Conference (GDC) to reveal the release date of the PlayStation VR-- the headset is coming out October 2016, later than the Q1 release of both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

PlayStation VRFirst announced back in 2014 as "Project Morpheus," the PlayStation VR has at least one advantage over the competition in not requiring a high-end PC. Instead, as the name suggests, the headset runs VR experiences using the PlayStation 4, making it a less costly proposition to customers. Also making less expensive is a price tag of €399, lower than either Rift or Vive.

Mind, on a pure technical specification basis the PlayStation VR might look less technically capable than the competition, since it pushes lower resolution images with a smaller field of view-- something even PlayStation VP Ito Masayasu admits in an interview with games site Polygon, where he states "if you just talk about the high-end quality, yes, I would admit that Oculus may have better VR."

However, plug-and-play capability with the PS4 provides an advantage not only on economic terms but also in software. Sony says there will be over 50 compatible games available between launch and end 2016, including an exclusive version of Star Wars Battlefront.

The PlayStation VR also offers an interesting social angle-- an included external processor allows users to mirror what is being shown on the headset to HDTV, making for potentially amusing experiences.

So, will Sony win the battle of the VR headsets? According to an October 2015 IHS report the answer might be... yes! The analyst predicts the company will sell over 1.6 million PlayStation VR units by end 2016, beating estimated Rift sales reaching 560000 and Vive sales of around 440000.

Go PlayStation VR: Launching October

Go The Making of PlayStation VR (Polygon)

Go VR and Entertainment: Bubble or Next Big Thing? (IHS)