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Sony is not abandoning VR. The company has announced the next edition of the PlayStation VR headset that is being developed for PlayStation 5. This headset is described as “our next-generation VR system” that will deliver the “ultimate entertainment experience,” according to PlayStation’s Hideaki Nishino.
Nishino said this VR system will provide “dramatic leaps in performance and interactivity.” He explained, “Players will feel an even greater sense of presence and become even more immersed in their game worlds once they put on the new headset.”
Nishino went on to say that PlayStation’s engineers are taking the learnings from the existing model of the PSVR and using that feedback to inform where to go with the new one. Very little in the way of specifics is known about the headset, and no images were shared, but Nishino confirmed it will not be wireless.
The new headset “enhances everything from resolution and field of view to tracking and input. It will connect to PS5 with a single cord to simplify setup and improve ease-of-use, while enabling a high-fidelity visual experience,” Nishino said.
The new PSVR headset for PS5 will also use a new VR controller that makes use of some of the “key features” in the DualSense controller for PS5, along with a focus on “great ergonomics.”
“That’s just one of the examples of future-proof technology we’re developing to match our vision for a whole new generation of VR games and experiences,” Nishino said.
In an interview, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan touted the advancements Sony has made to improve the experience of using the new PSVR headset, including pointing to the single-cord setup. Regarding that change, he told GQ, “That was a very simple and visible illustration of a lesson that we’ve learned from when iterating from the present system to the new one.”
Ryan avoided referring to the new headset by any name, including PSVR 2. But he did share some insight into why Sony is making another VR headset when the virtual reality market has still yet to achieve massive success.
“We believe in VR and have been extremely happy with the results with the present PlayStation VR and think that we will do good business with our new VR system for PlayStation 5. More importantly, we see it as something beyond this coming iteration that really could be really big and really important. We like to innovate; we think our community likes us to innovate. I’d turn around the question and say, ‘Why not?’ For us, it’s a very logical step to take. We’re very excited by it and we think that people who are going to make VR games for our new VR system are going to be very excited too.”
As for a launch lineup, Ryan also declined to share any specifics, though he did say, “[O]bviously we will launch our new VR system with appropriate software support.”
It’s still early days for the new PSVR headset for PS5–it won’t launch in 2021–but Nishino said it wanted to tell fans that something new is coming and that developers are already working with it.
“There’s still a lot of development underway for our new VR system, so it won’t be launching in 2021. But 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,” Nishino said.
Finally, Nishino said Sony as a company remains committed to helping VR take off.
“With both PlayStation VR and the next-generation VR system we’re building, our commitment to virtual reality as a medium for games is stronger than ever. We look forward to sharing more details in the future,” Nishino said.
