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PSVR is reportedly headed to virtual reality arcades in Japan

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 1 min

Sony is expected to deploy the PlayStation VR headsets in arcades in the Japanese market, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

A new “location-based entertainment” division at Sony Interactive Entertainment will lead the initiative and find partners in Japan. VR arcades are starting to become popular in Japan as testing grounds for new innovations in gaming, and VR headset rival HTC Vive is also opening VR arcades in places like China.

Since VR can still be pretty expensive for the home market, with the total costs running close to $1,000, the arcades are a good place for fans to check out new VR content in a social way. If fans pay something like $10 for an hour, the VR industry can make money without giving consumers sticker shock.

Sony hasn’t offered any comment on the report yet.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.