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PSVR Price Delivers Profit at Each Sale, Sony Exec Claims

Unlike the Oculus Rift, PS4's virtual reality headset will not sell at a loss at point of sale, a company rep suggests.

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Each sale of a PlayStation VR will generate a profit for Sony, as opposed to a loss that was foreshadowed last year, if new comments from a PlayStation executive are to be believed.

Adam Boyes, a developer relations executive at PlayStation, was asked by Game Informer about the PSVR price in comparison to other virtual reality devices such as HTC Vive ($800) and Oculus Rift ($600).

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"I think for us, we weren't really looking at the other guys," Boyes said.

"The same goes for the price point. It wasn't predicated on anyone else's prices. Obviously we need to make money on the unit, but we've been in the consumer electronics business for a long time, so our ability to source great, high quality parts is a big part of it."

Then, apparently after being asked directly whether each PSVR unit sells at a profit, Boyes confirmed this was the case.

"Every device we've sold since PlayStation 4 has been in the black," he added.

In November last year, the head of Sony games development, Shuhei Yoshida, claimed that the corporation was not looking to make a profit with each PSVR unit sold.

On Tuesday at an event in San Francisco, Sony announced the PSVR price and release date. The device will retail at $399 (£349) and go on sale in October.

It is a common practice in the games hardware business to sell each console at a loss at point of sale, with a long-term plan to recoup those losses and make profit with software.

Due to a range of factors, from manufacturing costs to choice of parts, the Oculus Rift device will be sold at loss, despite retailing for $200 more than Sony's device.

Further Reading: All the PSVR News and Reaction

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