The PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD) launched a little over a year ago and with it changed the dynamic of console peripherals. Often considered an accessory to the PlayStation 4 itself and requiring further add-ons for use (PlayStation Camera, PlayStation Move motion controllers), the PlayStation VR was seen as an expensive step into a new way of playing videogames. But the success of the HMD has outweighed any fears of low adoption rates, with audiences who purchase the device also investing heavily in software to use it.
Speaking at Develop:VR, London, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Stuart Whyte, London Studio’s director of VR product development, suggested that the attachment rate of PlayStation VR videogames is impressive, especially when considering the financial investment required to even begin playing in VR.
“We’re currently sitting at five games sold per headset, so we’re seeing a really strong attach rate from our first year. Many of those games to date are smaller experiences, they’re experiences that we as developers get to know the platform [with], built around one or two mechanics.”
Whyte is currently working on Blood & Truth, an evolution of the gameplay seen in PlayStation VR launch title PlayStation VR Worlds’ The London Heist. In that lies a prime example of Whyte’s suggestion that the first generation of PlayStation VR software will be significantly inferior to what comes next.
“We feel that for VR to get to the next level, we need bigger, built from the ground up VR AAA experiences.”
Impulse Gear’s Farpoint is another example of just that. Boasting complex mechanics designed for VR and a lengthy campaign, Farpoint debuted at no. 2 in the all-format software sales charts in the UK.
The HMD itself is also showing significant adoption rates, with the recent launch of a revised model, known as CUH-ZVR2, boosting PlayStation VR sales in Japan.
SIE recently revealed a whole swathe of new PlayStation VR titles at the company’s Paris Games Week press conference, as can be seen in the video below, with 2018 looking set to be a year of heavy investment in the medium from both the platform holder and third-party developers. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on every title heading to PlayStation VR.