A new version of Sony’s virtual reality headset – the PlayStation VR – is in the works. And this time it’s for the PS5.
The PSVR 2 – as it could be called – was officially confirmed in early 2021 in a blog post written by the senior vice president of platform planning and managment at Sony Interactive Entertainment, Hideaki Nishino.
There’s no date for it yet, but here’s everything else we know so far.
PSVR 2 release date
As we’ve said above, there is no set date for the launch of the new PlayStation VR headset. In fact, all we know right now is when it won’t be released: “There’s still a lot of development underway for our new VR system, so it won’t be launching in 2021,” said Nishino in his blog post.
However, 2022 does seem a safe bet as he also confirmed that developers are already working on projects for it: “We wanted to provide this early update to our fans, as the development community has started to work on creating new worlds for you to explore in virtual reality,” he added.
PSVR 2 technology
All that’s been confirmed so far is that the new headset will dispense of the, frankly awkward, processor unit. It will have just one cable to connect directly to the PlayStation 5.
However, rumours have suggested additional features and specifications. For starters, it is said the cable will be USB-C and plug into the port on the front of the PS5.
The new headset will have a greatly improved resolution over its predecessor, it is claimed, with 2000 x 2040 pixels per eye… greater than 4K.
Eye-tracking could be on board, along with a rumble motor for haptic feedback. The headset will likely have cameras built into the external casing, to track controllers and the like.
PSVR 2 controller
A new VR Controller will ship with the latest headset – dispensing with the Move controllers used with the original.
Revealed in mid-March 2021, the new VR controllers look similar to equivalents from Oculus. There will be adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, just like on the PS5 DualSense.
Each controller will have one adaptive trigger, with developers able to adjust the sensitivity depending on in-game actions. Haptic feedback will give the user a better sense of the feel of the terrain or audio effects.
One big bonus is that these controllers will be tracked by the new headset, rather than a conventional camera. This should give them much better control, less latency and can be used without the fear of ambient light affecting signals.
PSVR 2 games
While it is too early to hear about the majority of games that will be available for PSVR 2, developer Vankrupt Games confirmed on Twitter that its Oculus Quest title, Pavlov Shack, will be released for the next-gen PlayStation headset.
PSVR2, psvr1 doesn’t have the fidelity for Pavlov
— davevillz (@davevillz) March 29, 2021
The CEO responded to a question about PSVR support by saying that the original headset doesn’t have the resolution to run the game adequately.