PlayStation continues its VR dominance with bonkers PSVR deal

Sony will begin selling a $199.99 PlayStation VR bundle this Sunday, Dec. 10. The hardware comes with the headset, the PlayStation 4 camera, the latest demo disc and a copy of Gran Turismo Sport.

This is a ridiculous deal for one of the best virtual reality platforms on the market. Nothing else comes close to this level of value per dollar if you’re in the market for virtual reality.

The $199.99 bundle includes the first-generation hardware, but who cares when you’re getting a high-quality, ready-to-go VR platform complete with a bunch of stuff to play while saving $100?

The latest version of the headset features slightly better cabling, integrated headphones and a breakout box that allows HDR support on your display without disconnecting the PSVR, but that’s it. Players without HDR-enabled televisions will barely notice the difference, making this hardware blowout a great time to grab a VR system at a deep discount.

Digging that knife a bit deeper

The sale runs through Dec. 24 and has to feel like a direct attack on just about every other VR headset on the market. Sony has recently announced that it has sold over two million PlayStation VR units to date, and remains one of the few virtual reality hardware companies to release hard sales numbers on its platform.

The PlayStation VR has to be the most popular tethered VR headset on the market — if anyone else has sold more, they would likely say so — and the second place winner is likely far behind Sony’s numbers.

While many PSVR games can be played with a standard controller, you’ll still likely want to pick up a pair of Touch controllers or maybe even an Aim controller if you’re into the more violent uses of the medium, but since the $199.99 bundle already comes with the camera you’re still coming out way ahead compared to any other version of the hardware released to date. The Black Friday version of this bundle was sold for $100 more.

You can also pick up a more complete bundle that comes with the headset, camera, two Move controllers, the latest demo disc and a copy of Skyrim VR for $349.99 — which is a $100 savings off the standard price — if you’re not that interested in racing games and don’t want to use the DualShock 4 to control your VR games. That bundle will come with the latest version of the PlayStation VR hardware as well, making it perhaps a slightly better buy for players who are willing to spend a little more.

The Doom VFR bundle without any extra controllers but featuring the latest hardware revision will be on sale for $299.99 during these dates as well.

However, this $199.99 base price for the holidays, combined with an unexpectedly large number of software announcements for the PSVR at E3 of this year and last night’s Game Awards, will only increase Sony’s lead in VR.

Both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are likely far behind the PSVR in terms of units sold, which means that VR devs can’t afford to ignore Sony’s VR system in such a limited market. This feedback loop will ensure that the PSVR will continue to get plenty of attention from developers.

If you’re even slightly interested in picking up a PSVR system, this may be the time to jump in. The Black Friday deals were already impressive, but these new bundles are even better. Sony wants to be a dominant force in VR, and it’s already there. Sales like this are only going to cement its position further.