The current generation of virtual reality headsets arrived on the market last year with a flurry of hype. Demonstrations thrilled people throughout the industry — many have been waiting for virtual reality to jump out of the pages of science fiction. Facebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014 set off a wave of investment in the sector.

In recent months, a more sober tone has descended over virtual reality. Oculus executives have sought to shift the conversation from first-year sales to the technology’s long-term potential. During a recent court appearance, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said the company would probably need to invest more than $3 billion over a decade to reach an audience of hundreds of millions of people with virtual reality.

Among the other challenges facing the technology: high prices for virtual reality equipment, limited high-quality content and thorny side effects like motion sickness.

Sony enjoyed advantages as it entered the market because its headset is sold as an add-on to its game console, PlayStation 4, more than 53 million of which had been sold by the start of January. The headset sells for $400 — or $500 with a set of virtual reality hand controllers and a required camera — hundreds of dollars less than other premium products, which also require powerful PCs.

Mr. House said he would be “very happy” if the product ends up being purchased by a high single-digit percentage of all PlayStation 4 owners. For newer generations of headsets to reach a bigger audience, they will have to be lighter, cheaper and unencumbered by cables, analysts believe.

More creators of content will also have to step up their investments. Many virtual reality games are currently shorter experiences made by small, independent game studios. A number of large publishers are sitting on the sidelines until more headsets are sold.

One exception is Capcom, a Japanese game maker that released a new installment in its popular horror series, Resident Evil 7 biohazard, in January that is entirely playable in virtual reality. Since that game was released, the average amount of time PlayStation VR users spend playing in the headset has doubled, Mr. House said.