Two days ago, Sony announced that its virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 would cost $400, and would be available later this year. But today (Mar. 18), it’s decided to tell us that most people will likely have to pay $100 more than it originally said to actually play VR on the PlayStation 4.
Sony announced a new bundle for its VR headset that will cost $500. The reason for the price hike is that the bundle that Sony previously announced didn’t include the motion-tracking PlayStation Camera—Sony’s answer to the Microsoft Kinect—that the VR system actually needs to work. The new bundle includes the camera, along with two handheld controllers and a collection of VR games that Sony developed. Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s entertainment division president, told Tech Insider, that “many” people who own PlayStation 4s already own the PlayStation Camera, which is presumably why the company felt the need to sell the VR headset in bundles with and without the camera. But it doesn’t explain why Sony first communicated the cheaper price.
Sony said in a press release today that the new bundle will be available for pre-order starting Mar. 22, but bizarrely, the bundle without the camera won’t be available for pre-order. So if you’re one of the roughly 36 million PlayStation 4 owners and want to be among the first to play in VR—and you already have a camera—you’re probably going to end up spending $100 to get another camera.
Quartz reached out to Sony to explain its pricing rationale and will update this post as necessary.