After confirming that the name of its successor to the Playstation VR will simply be PSVR 2 at CES in January before further details on the specifications in February, it is rumored that Sony is sending emails hinting that PSVR 2 is about to be officially unveiled.
Similar to the way Sony is changing its approach to PlayStation subscriptions, this update to the virtual reality headset for gaming has been long overdue.
But IDC data clearly shows that the PSVR brand has a significant tough battle to stand out from other VR headphones.
According to its annual headphone supply tracking, IDC found that PSVR was not just under 78% of the 11.2 million shipments shown by Meta Quest 2 (formerly known as Oculus Quest 2), it failed to rank among the top five headset manufacturers, such as Chinese companies DPVR, ByteDance Pico Interactive, HTC and iQIYI, sell the most headphones after Meta.
Although VR is still a relatively niche environment for gaming and other interactive experiences, the speed with which Meta brought out the PSVR as an exclusive headset from 2019 to 2020 via Quest 2 was nothing short of staggering.
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As vicious as it was for Meta’s competitive leap forward, the reasons were simple.
On the one hand, the number of cables, connections and accessories needed to set up a PSVR for use has caused many complaints. There was also the fact that buying a PSVR headset also means buying a PS4 console if you don’t already have one.
Conversely, Quest and its second iteration were wireless and did not require additional hardware to work after purchase.
It’s good that Sony and PSVR 2 respond with better features that … have nothing to do with any of these things.
To be honest, PSVR2 removes the necessary connection to a PS camera for a smoother operation, but is not completely wireless and, of course, still requires PS5 to use, effectively cementing PS5 owners as the only basis for achieving more Better share of VR shipments are sold in the future.
This does not mean that significant improvements in visible pixels, field of view and vision tracking will not appeal to technology enthusiasts, but it is important to remember that the Valve Index has already been developed as a more technological VR option and sells around so poorly. as much as PSVR has been in the last two years compared to headphones from Meta and leading Chinese companies.
Similar to what makes the PlayStation a leading brand for consoles, the only realistic opportunity for PSVR 2 to win positions will be the games it offers – in particular AAA-quality PSVR-compatible games.
Given that many AAA studios are already facing the challenge of developing to make their own games that can be played on both PS4 and PS5 hardware, it will always be easier for Sony to simply collaborate with them. for new games designed for PSVR. But just sticking to this model is a wasted opportunity.
“Hitman 3” reached 50 million players within a year of its release, making it the most popular part of IO Interactive’s new “Hitman” trilogy, and was also compatible with PSVR since launch, with the adoption of VR mode being positive enough for IO to further develop the PC VR version, which launches this year.
Similarly, Capcom’s “Resident Evil 7” was an instant hit when it was released in 2017, not only because of its rethought perception of the long-running horror franchise, but also because the multiplatform game was fully reproduced on PSVR, with almost 10% of its players who experience the game this way. When the subsequent Resident Evil Village launched without PSVR compatibility, there was great disappointment.
Next-generation PSVR games are certainly in the works, as confirmed by Epic Games’ launch last week for the launch of Unreal Engine 5. The PSVR 2 logo was unveiled among a collage of studio logos already running the next Unreal Engine. so there are certainly great games on the periphery.
But until we see the full range of what the new PSVR hopes to achieve, it remains difficult to see what, if anything, can be done to regain its former momentum.
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