PlayStation VR now costs $100 less [Updated]

Since consumer-grade virtual reality became a real thing about two years ago, the high entry price for a complete VR setup has been one of the technology's main limiting factors. Sony is doing its best to reduce that barrier to entry, announcing Tuesday night that the price for PlayStation VR bundles is dropping by $100.

The hardware's lowest-priced Doom VFR bundle, which now costs $299, includes a second-generation PSVR headset, the PlayStation Camera that's needed for head- and controller-tracking, a demo disc, and the virtual reality version of Bethesda's Doom remake. That bundle does not include the system's optional, hand-tracking Move controllers, which retail for $100 per pair a la carte or come included in a separate "Skyrim VR" headset bundle, which now costs $349.

Though PSVR prices have occasionally been this low (or better) during retail sales, Sony's move brings the permanent, "all in" MSRP to get VR-ready in the PlayStation ecosystem—including a console, headset, tracking camera, hand-tracking controllers, and a game—down to $650 without any retail discounts (or $600 if you can suffice with a standard DualShock controller). That's the lowest price out there for a complete VR setup that features full head and hand-tracking—a similar "all in" PSVR package would have cost about $900 when the headset launched in late 2016.

While PlayStation VR does come with some compromises in terms of resolution, field of view, and pure pixel-pushing power when compared to its PC-based cousins, the headset remains a "good enough" full-featured VR experience for those that can't afford (or don't want) a high-powered PC gaming rig. Sony now boasts over 300 PlayStation games apps with VR support, though some of those are limited VR "experiences" included with more traditional screenbound games.

[Update: Changed slightly to note the price drop in the Skyrim VR bundle as well.]