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A Year Since Its Release, Sony Seems to Have Abandoned PlayStation VR2 - IGN

A year after its release, the future of PlayStation VR2 looks bleak as a lack of first-party exclusives and apparent disinterest from Sony make it hard for the headset to thrive.

www.ign.com

In 2021, Sony announced it was working on a next-generation headset it described as “a next-gen VR system that enhances everything from resolution and field of view to tracking and input.” Roughly a year later, PlayStation VR2 was officially revealed, with a release date set for February 2023.

Fast-forward to just over a year after its release, and the PSVR2 has not achieved its full potential. Between its lack of first-party exclusives, steep price, lack of backward compatibility, and retail delays, the PSVR2 has barely made a ripple in the VR market.

Now, amid devastating layoffs that include the closure of the VR-focused PlayStation London, it seems like PSVR2 may already be on its last legs. Here’s how we got there and what the future may hold for PlayStation’s troubled VR headset.

Despite touting the PSVR2 as a AAA VR platform, Sony doesn’t seem interested in having its first-party studios work on VR games. Aside from multiple unannounced games canceled by the company, some of the studios affected by the recent reduction in staff include the aforementioned London Studio, which worked on two PSVR games, including 2019’s Blood & Truth Firesprite, which developed PSVR games Air Force Special Ops: Nightfall, The Persistence, and more recently Horizon Call of the Moutain, also lost staff.

The lack of AAA support in VR is a recurring issue in the market, with few developers willing to make VR-focused versions of their best games. One of the handful of publishers to make the leap is Ubisoft, but during a recent earnings call, it said that it has no plans to increase investment in VR following the disappointing sales of Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, which launched exclusively on Meta Quest headsets last year. After all the enthusiasm for Half-Life: Alyx, the anticipated wave of big-budget VR releases has failed to materialize.

One reason for this may be due to a struggle to build large communities. Speaking with IGN, Michael Lee, a Schell Games senior engineer who previously worked on Among US VR, tells IGN that PSVR2, like any VR headset, has an issue with retaining users after the initial launch. “Sony, Meta, Apple, and all of the other VR platforms will need to address how to keep people engaged,” Lee explained. “Whether that’s building unique experiences exclusive to the platform, creating new hardware, or making improvements to make experiences even more immersive.”

 

[splattered]

Dammit I want my 600 back

 

[Closer]

 

[Mister Wolf]

If you let them hustle you twice then that's on you.

 

[Gaiff]

Sucks because the PSVR2 is a genuinely nice piece of kit.

 

[Pop]

Good

Or maybe a PC release is coming

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Sony ripped off a small group of people with this release.

 

[Closer]

Sucks because the PSVR2 is a genuinely nice piece of kit.

Same for Vita.

 

[StueyDuck]

Sony literally has to fire 900 people and close a studio because the industry isn't doing well..

Ign: SoNy haZ GiVen UP oN Vr2 durrr...

No shit ign... they clearly can't have any expenses right now that aren't absolutely vital to the business.

I love vr but in their position they clearly have to axe the product if they want to stay in the game.

 

[analog_future]

Who could’ve seen this coming!?

 

[Alexios]

VR games release all the time, I mostly post PC VR stuff (equally called out as dead by Meta fans) but the vast majority is multiplatform with the occasional Quest first, PSVR2 first or exclusive thrown in. There are much better stuff than Sony's first party VR output too.

London Studio was not "VR focused". They made PSVR1 stuff, the last in 2019, but they had made nothing for PSVR2 and their next game was a GAAS shooter. Its closure has literally nothing to do with PSVR2. Weak journalism, weak thread making, stop the bullshit folks.

Oh look, trolls that don't know anything about what they're attempting to chime in for and more often than not laugh at the very idea of game journalism shenanigans suddenly take IGN's article title as the de facto fact of how things really are, who saw that coming eh?​

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Damn. I still remember when I was banned from a PSVR2 thread in 2022 for saying that the peripheral being more expensive than the PS5 console itself was not going to be received well by the broad consumer market. No one is surprised by this development, especially if you've been around long enough to see how Sony abandoned the PSP back in it's heyday.

 

[AV]

The kit is way too nice for something that wasn't supported on PC at the start. I barely even use my Quest 2 but most of the best shit is PC only.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I'm very upset for the 4 of us.

 

[RagnarokIV]

We knew they would. Unless it’s an instant hit, Sony will kill it.

Also, no back compat with PSVR hurt it.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Always risky buying proprietary hardware at the mercy of a singular corporation. Us Vitabros learned this the hard way.

 

[Puscifer]

Good

Or maybe a PC release is coming

Rumored to be in the works and with the shut down of London studios at this point it makes sense to flood the market. I know I'm investing in it, it's a great piece of kit for the price and isn't attached to Facebook so my eyes are gleaming on it

 

[gothmog]

News to me. I'm still playing it regularly.

 

[LordCBH]

Ah great. They took the Vita approach to it:

Shit out a great device and then just hope it dies.

 

[Deerock71]

Here come the lectures that it isn't a gimmick, fad, or niche.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Also, no back compat with PSVR hurt it

I couldn't believe my eyes when I originally read that PSVR2 would not support PSVR content. I was sure that Sony would develope an input conversion utility that would allow the PSVR2 to emulate PSVR input and tracking. Such a waste. It's not over with though, and I believe (hope) that Sony has more in store for PSVR2. The idea that the platform is dead 12 months after release is hyperbole.

 

[FoxMcChief]

We knew they would. Unless it’s an instant hit, Sony will kill it.

Also, no back compat with PSVR hurt it.

You’re forgetting the most important reason why it was doomed to always fail. It lacked a key feature to VR…

 

[Putonahappyface]

I really wanted to keep mine but no games grabbed me and I panicked so took it back for a refund.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Always risky buying proprietary hardware at the mercy of a singular corporation. Us Vitabros learned this the hard way.

At least you guys had the PSP to set your expectations for the Vita. The people who bought this headset should have known better.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I really wanted to keep mine but no games grabbed me and I panicked so took it back for a refund.

I was really close to getting one. I even signed up for that PlayStation Visa Credit Card to get $100 off a purchase of $500 or more. I just couldn’t justify it. But I have used the credit card to earn some sweet reward points that I used on store credit.

 

[cash_longfellow]

I don’t understand how people didn’t see this coming. VR is an incredibly small niche market, it will never be relevant as a full scale go to for gamers. Not any time soon at least.

 

[Monkfish877]

Still remember them dropping Vita support 6 months after it released and turning it into a glorified indie games machine, only a fool would trust Sony and them supporting their non home console hardware.

 

[Fake]

Kinect vibes here.

 

[Kerotan]

Could have made a few vr games instead of all that cancelled GAAS shite.

 

[Mr Hyde]

After Vita I won't purchase any hardware from Sony that isn't a Playstation console.

 

[Allandor]

Well, I remember a time there was Kinect, when it didn't work as expected PC drivers were announced...
See any similarities?

Well VR is still a niche product, development costs are really high and not every VR buyer, buys every VR game. This makes it a really small market with many flops because there are not enough people buying even good games.

I even don't see the big hype apple had hoped for with their AR/VR hybrid.

 

[Sleepwalker]

It'll be pretty great once they add PC support.

For me the few games I enjoyed on it were worth the $600, if there's 10 or so games that I like across its life, then that'll be ok for me.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I don’t want to strap a fucking headset on my face and pantomime my avatar’s actions. It’s that simple. VR is best suited for short, novelty arcade style experiences.

 

[Mahavastu]

I expected them to create more hybrid games, means adding a VR mode to existing games like Resident Evil 4+8 or GT7. Or Wipeout for the old PSVR.
I am surprised that Sony did not do this, it would be a rather cheap way to bring more attractiv content to PSVR2.

And not being compatibe to PSVR was a real bummer.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Kinect vibes here.

While KINECT eventually ended up dying off, the first few years were actually a big success for the peripheral. KINECT sold over 8 million units within its first 60 days on the market compared to only 600,000 PSVR2 units sold in the same time span after release.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Still remember them dropping Vita support 6 months after it released and turning it into a glorified indie games machine, only a fool would trust Sony and them supporting their hardware.

PS5 seems to be doing amazingly well so there must be 52+ million "fools" out in these streets huh?

While KINECT eventually ended up dying off, the first few years were actually a big success for the peripheral. KINECT sold over 8 million units within its first 60 days on the market compared to only 600,000 PSVR2 units sold in the same time span after release.

Yet in terms of software library PSVR2 has arguably more quality content in a year than Kinect got in its lifetime.

Sales though? Well, yeah, Kinect has the edge there.

 

[Topher]

While KINECT eventually ended up dying off, the first few years were actually a big success for the peripheral. KINECT sold over 8 million units within its first 60 days on the market compared to only 600,000 PSVR2 units sold in the same time span after release.

True. Starting out, Kinect had the benefit of being part of motion fad that Wii started. But for Xbox One, it was a boat anchor.

 

[BennyBlanco]

It'll be pretty great once they add PC support.

Feels like it’s a day late and a dollar short. Why would a PC bro get this over a Quest 3 or Valve’s rumored wireless headset.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Sony showed that graph of the first few months of sales compared to PSVR1. PSVR2 did start out stronger but it looked like the lines were going to cross in the next month or two. I got laughed out of the PSVR2 sales thread for pointing this out.

AFAIK Sony never said anything about sales since then, so I can only assume it’s fallen behind PSVR1, launch-aligned.

Hey, I bet PSVR3 is when it’ll really finally take off for real.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

True. Starting out, Kinect had the benefit of being part of motion fad that Wii started. But for Xbox One, it was a boat anchor.

I believe KINECT would have died off anyway, but making it mandatory with Xbox One killed both machines prematurely.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I don’t want to strap a fucking headset on my face and pantomime my avatar’s actions. It’s that simple. VR is best suited for short, novelty arcade style experiences.

I enjoy my PSVR2. I think there is room for hybrid style games. VR enhanced games that play closer to traditional games.

 

[Buggy Loop]

If you let them hustle you twice then that's on you.

Who could have predicted?

(Everyone)

 

[iHaunter]

Always risky buying proprietary hardware at the mercy of a singular corporation. Us Vitabros learned this the hard way.

They're releasing it on PC though...

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

True. Starting out, Kinect had the benefit of being part of motion fad that Wii started. But for Xbox One, it was a boat anchor.

Plus at the time Kinect released, a chunk of the Wii audience were already looking for alternatives. Kinect was the right product at the right time to capitalize on that desire before mobile gaming really blew up a year or two later, and Wii sales were finally starting to slow down some.

MS's big mistake was gutting the processing power of the camera to increase their profit margins on it. Kinect V2 is what the first one should've been.

Hey, I bet PSVR3 is when it’ll really finally take off for real.

It will if they can make it scalable to an entry-level option that could maybe even be included with PS6 by default (or at least be cheap enough to be close to impulse buy as a peripheral).

Still holding out hope they can pull that off.

It'll be pretty great once they add PC support.

For me the few games I enjoyed on it were worth the $600, if there's 10 or so games that I like across its life, then that'll be ok for me.

Do you think it'd be irresponsible of Sony to add PC compatibility though without at least giving console owners a way to access PC VR games through streaming possibly?

I know for me, that would kinda be some mid-'90s SEGA type of 32X/Sega CD fukery towards early adopters, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Mister Wolf]

They're releasing it on PC though...

How does that benefit PS5 owners starving for content for it?

 

[Topher]

Should have put all this effort into VR into a new PlayStation Portable that can play PS5 games.

How does that help PS5 owners?

I think the hope is that PC VR devs will support PS VR2 and then will decide to port to PS5 as well.

 

[squarealex]

Too expensive and not backward compatible with PSVR1 (wich is a big mistake).

 

[iHaunter]

How does that benefit PS5 owners starving for content for it?

VR games on all platforms have a much slower release window in general. I'm expecting it to allow cross platform games over time.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Feels like it’s a day late and a dollar short. Why would a PC bro get this over a Quest 3 or Valve’s rumored wireless headset.

I don't care about that tbh, I already have a PSVR2 so if it gets PC support then I don't need to buy either of those.

 

[tommycronin]