Sony have made it abundantly clear that they have every intention to continue supporting PlayStation VR even as they head into the next generation of consoles this Holiday with the PS5’s launch- which is confirmed to feature PSVR support. However, it’s also clear that Sony’s VR headset is very, very underpowered, especially compared to some others o the market. Sure, that also goes hand-in-hand with a much more affordable price point, but it’s also led many to believe that an upgrade to the hardware has to be coming in the not-too-distant future.
Speaking with GamesIndustry, Patrick O’Luanaigh, CEO of VR specialist studio nDreams, had much of the same to say about PSVR. According to O’Luanaigh, Sony are very much aware of the fact that it is outdated now, and he feels they need to upgrade the hardware if they want to keep competing in this space- which they very much do.
“I think Sony knows that, if VR is going to continue beyond the next year or two, they need to update their hardware,” said O’Luanaigh. “Because it is dated, and it will be even more dated by then. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t continue to support VR.”
However, O’Luanaigh also said that he doesn’t think a PSVR 2 will be announced just yet, and suspects that Sony will want to focus completely on the PS5 for now- which seems to be in line with what Sony’s own stance has been on the matter up until now as well.
“But I wouldn’t expect it to be announced at the same time as PlayStation 5,” he said. “This year the focus has to be on the core of the business… so I think they’ll be all over PS5 this year, and when that’s solid, I think that’s when you’ll see what they’re doing.”
As far as upgrades to the hardware are concerned, while patents are never a guarantee of technology we will see in the neat future (or at all, really), recent patents have suggested that Sony are looking into implementing technology similar to the Valve Index with their next VR headset. Read more on that through here.
Meanwhile, a rumour a couple months back suggested that the PSVR 2 would be released shortly after the PS5’s own launch.