The PlayStation VR headset might cost even more than the Oculus Rift

People hoping that the PlayStation VR headset would stay within console-range in terms of price will be happy to hear that a leaked listing on Amazon’s Canadian website has confirmed this to be the case. Well, that’s only half true, because the leak suggests that the virtual reality headset will cost about $800, which is the price of two consoles, but nobody ever said that console-range meant a single console! Jokes aside, this price would put the PlayStation VR well above the Oculus Rift, which is already pretty damn expensive, so I really don’t expect Sony to be able to sell very many of these headsets.

The price of Sony’s virtual reality headset PlayStation VR appears to have been leaked on Amazon’s Canadian site, at a $1,125 Canadian dollars, or £546. The news comes in the wake of a backlash against Oculus Rift’s $599 price tag, £499 in the UK, announced earlier this week. Founder Palmer Luckey apologised to fans, saying he’d previously underestimated the price of the headset, but still claims it is ‘obscenely cheap’ for what it is. In US terms, Rift will cost $600 to PlayStation VR’s $800. The listing, spotted by Forbes, was swiftly removed and Sony issued a statement, claiming: “This was an error by Amazon, we haven’t announced price for PlayStation VR.” The price of Sony’s headset, formerly known as Project Morpheus, has been a closely guarded secret. Oculus was the first of the big three VR companies – the other being HTC’s Vive, to announce its cost. The exact shipping date of PlayStation VR also remains a mystery. Rift is expected to start arriving to buyers from March, with Vive shipping in April. PlayStation VR’s theoretical advantage over its rivals lies within its pairing with the PlayStation 4, which is now relatively inexpensive at around £300. The price of powerful computers which Rift and Vive require to run properly is a major barrier to its mainstream adoption, costing upwards of around £1,000.