Jim Ryan, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s president and chief executive already gave some interesting insight as to why God of War tends to perform better in North America versus Europe. With PlayStation VR just a few months away and Sony beginning their marketing push, the PlayStation exec shared his thoughts on VR and their competition. When asked if he feels “PS VR is a bellweather of sorts for mainstream adoption of VR,” Ryan said:

 No I don’t feel a sense of pressure at all. I definitely sense an opportunity. I think we have a good pricepoint, 50 games and you heard yesterday the latest raft of titles announced. There are some big names and big IP in there. I think if we do this right we have a significant opportunity. It’s a completely fertile ground. In many ways, in this stage of a category’s launch, you want to competition to succeed in order to grow it. There’s plenty of room for everybody right now. 

With the technology seemingly ready and a rich launch library of games, perhaps the biggest obstacle ahead of VR will be marketing. If Sony and others can do a proper job at educating and enticing consumers, VR will have room to maneuver, adapt, and grow. For Sony, a big part of PlayStation VR Marketing will mean getting it into the hands of as many consumers as they can before it even becomes available for purchase.

 Well, the first thing is that we have a very large, fertile market of PS4 owners. They might not be VR enthusiasts but we know they’re video game enthusiasts. They’re almost all connected to the PlayStation Network so we can communicate with them.

In terms of converting them into believers it’s quite apparent that trial and experiential marketing is going to be fundamental in making this work. The launch campaign is going to be very different, with the PS4 we had the OXO tower and big TV campaigns. This marketing mix will be different, it will be about getting VR into people’s hands… or on their heads! And that’s how we’ll do it. 

Discuss:

Do you plan on buying VR regardless or will you want to try it out prior?

[Via TheTelegraph]