PSVR 2 is Officially Real and We Have Several Questions

The long speculated PSVR 2 is now an official reality and coming to PS5 at some point in the future (Sony has said expressly it won’t be this year). While it’s nice to know that, yes, this is actually real, we’ve still got more questions than answers at this point.

Sony in a blog post dropped a few details but there is still a lot to speculate about. At this point there is little we can say for certain but some details heavily suggest what features it’ll have and ones it likely won’t. Let’s see what we can divine from Sony’s post.

Will PSVR 2 be wireless?

At this point I would say maybe. While they don’t specifically come out and say it, they do mention the headset will connect via a single wire, very similar to an Oculus Quest and link cable. This could mean Sony could be planning their own version of the quest as a mobile/tethered hybrid.

There’s no mention of an onboard battery of any kind, or if the headset will have any wireless capabilities to connect to the console or to the internet, but one can hope. The idea of playing mobile versions of your PSVR games on the go and upgraded versions while connected to your PS5 would be a major hit for those gamers looking for the best of both worlds.

Sony does manufacture the Xperia smartphone, which runs on Android like a Quest does, so they do conceivably have the means to produce their own mobile hardware. This could be a good direction for the company to go as they’ve seen demand for their smartphones dwindle and recently shutdown the support site for Xperia. Restructuring their smartphone business into a VR business would be a solid move.

Will PSVR 2 have wireless streaming?

The big thing right now with Oculus Quest is Virtual Desktop getting the official nod from Facebook by allowing users to stream PCVR content straight into their quest. Before you had to do a sideloading workaround to get it running. This is a huge sign that the company thinks streaming content to headsets over wireless internet is inevitable.

Tethered VR will no doubt continue to exist though and here’s why: not everybody has a great router with fast internet that can handle streaming VR content to their device. Give it a few years though and when great Wi-Fi becomes ubiquitous and it’ll be industry standard.

Wireless streaming isn’t just a VR phenomenon, of course. Google’s Stadia has tried to be the first to market in the flatscreen world with a cloud gaming device. If you’re not familiar, the concept was the graphical heavy lifting gets done by the supercomputers at Google HQ and users play remotely from their homes for a monthly fee.

Being able to stream HD content with no input lag is definitely the answer to spending a fortune on a computer, but alas, Google’s foray into gaming hasn’t exactly gone well and the service continues to struggle to find an audience. In the VR world however, streaming content is quickly becoming a feature very on the minds of potential headset owners.

Will PSVR 2 have new controllers?

Yes, yes it will. This is probably the one thing Sony was very clear about in their blog post:

“One of the innovations we’re excited about is our new VR controller, which will incorporate some of the key features found in the DualSense wireless controller, 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.”

There’s also this video of Sony researchers developing finger tracking technology in a controller:

It’s possible the PSVR2 controllers will be similar to the Valve Knuckles which would make this headset a kind of best-hits of all the great ideas in VR right now.

Will PSVR 2 have finger tracking like Oculus Quest 2?

This is a great question because why have a controller when your literal hands could be the controller? It’s a tricky question as the tech needs some time to catch up. The Oculus Quest 2 uses its cameras to scan you hands and render them in your virtual display – tracking and responding to what gestures and actions you make in the real world. It makes for a nice demo but it isn’t good enough to the point where we can ditch the controllers to slice blocks in Beat Saber with just our hands.

An interesting tidbit from the Sony patents has something to do with bananas. And no, I’m not joking. Apparently Sony is looking into how to turn ordinary household objects into VR controllers.

I never thought I’d imagine shopping for a new PlayStation controller at the grocery store but after living through 2020 I guess nothing really surprises me anymore. As far as if PSVR2 will have finger tracking (banana tracking?) the jury is still out.

What are the technical specs for PSVR 2?

We don’t know. Take it to the bank though that it will have higher resolution screens and better lenses. It’s also most likely going to ditch the tracking light solution of PSVR 1 in favor of something like Quest where the controllers pair to the headset. Here’s what Sony had to say as far as the specs go:

“We’re taking what we’ve learned since launching PS VR on PS4 to develop a next-gen VR system that enhances everything from resolution and field of view to tracking and input.”

What Games are Coming to PSVR 2?

An excellent question and Sony has made it very clear that they’re going all-in on VR content. They just annouced last week several AAA VR games will be coming to PSVR and presumably PSVR 2. Song in the Smoke looks especially interesting as the VR survival game has yet to be perfected. There’s also Zombieland: Headshot Fever, Fracked, Zenith, After the Fall, I Expect You to Die 2, Sniper Elite VR, Doom 3 and its rumored Farpoint 2 is in the works. Get more info on those games here.

Hitman 3 also recently launched but has lackluster VR support. The hardware just can’t keep up with the demand of a game that regularly features crowds of NPCs and the lack of move control support is baffling. If I had to guess, Sony made a deal with IO Interactive to bring the game to PSVR with the expectation that the proper version will come to PSVR 2.

So what’s going to happen to PSVR 1?

It’s had a good run as a headset but I’d imagine that PSVR 2 will be taking over sometime in 2022. The PSVR 1 is seriously starting to show its age as the screen resolution and lenses just aren’t up to snuff compared to any of the modern HMDs avaliable today. This leaves Sony with a bit of a sticky problem though, how do they keep the fire burning as they finish developing this new headset?

It seems like they’re building a bridge to PSVR 2 with content. Simply dropping support for the device right now just isn’t really possible without suffering an optics loss. They’ll mail you the adapter you’ll need for the PlayStation camera if you’re a PSVR 1 owner that’s upgraded to PS5, but beyond that it feels like life support for a device that debuted feeling dated.

What I mean by that is the PlayStation move controllers and tracking lights on the headset were only ever a workable solution for VR. What it really needed from the get-go was a dedicated VR headset that pairs with the PlayStation platform. The tech it ended up using was leftover from PlayStation’s response to the Microsoft Kinect.

My prediction is there will be enough content to bridge the gap between PSVR owners who just bought a headset last year to play Blood and Truth or Star Wars: Squadrons and don’t want to feel pressured to upgrade after finally taking the plunge and getting into VR. It would be very wise of Sony to make purchases made now on PSVR 1 carry over to PSVR 2.

Overall it’s a very good sign that Sony is making the investment in VR that needs to happen for console gamers. If Microsoft isn’t going to do it then someone in the console market has to. We got some great games out of PSVR 1 like Resident Evil 7, Firewall: Zero Hour and Statik but by 2022 I feel like most folks will be ready to move on.

And what’s more there’s a ton of great PCVR content out there already just waiting to be ported to PSVR 2. Hyper Dash just launched and it’s already a smash hit in the VR world. And there’s plenty more where that came from. Console gamers deserve the chance to try VR and there are more than enough of them willing to get a device that pairs with their console than buy either a Quest or invest in a PC VR setup.

If you’re looking to take the plunge into VR yourself be sure to swing by Newegg’s VR Central or browse PSVR products here.