Sony today announced its next State of Play, the company’s ongoing presentation series where it highlights upcoming games. The company says viewers can expect a first “sneak peek” at PSVR 2 games during the event next week.
Sony has announced that its next State of Play event will be held on June 2nd at 3PM PT (your timezone here). The presentation will be broadcast on the official PlayStation channels on Twitch and YouTube.
During the event the company says viewers can expect “some exciting reveals from our third-party partners, plus a sneak peek at several games in development for PlayStation VR 2.”
While it sounds like only a small portion of the presentation will be focused on PSVR 2, it’s the first bit of information about PlayStation VR 2 games directly from Sony, outside the previous confirmation that a Horizon Zero Dawn VR game is in the works for the headset.
Given Sony’s curiously timed marketing of the headset thus far, it isn’t clear if we should expect to see mostly VR games that already exist on other platforms and are being confirmed for PSVR 2, or if we’ll see previously unknown VR games in the works for the headset. Luckily we only have to wait until next week to find out!
During Sony’s annual investor day event, the company confirmed to investors that it has a lineup of more than 20 games ready for the launch of PSVR 2—despite having not yet confirmed the headset’s release date.
Sony’s 2022 Investor Day presentation gives investors in the company an overview of recent performance and future strategic outlook at the company’s core business segments which include PlayStation, Sony Music, and Sony Pictures.
During the wide ranging presentation, the company briefly highlighted “PSVR 2 launch” as a key part of its ‘commercial expansion’ strategy designed to bring “new growth vectors” to the company.
“PlayStation has, and always will, stand for innovation. And PlayStation VR 2 is the latest manifestation of our commitment in the innovation space,” said PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan. “Our plans are now well advanced, with the most striking aspect being the sheer joy expressed by gamers and developers alike when they have the chance to enjoy virtual reality on the PlayStation VR 2.”
Ryan stopped short of confirming a specific launch date or launch window for the headset, but his presentation slide during the segment confirmed “20+ major first-party and third-party titles confirmed for PSVR 2 at launch.”
Image courtesy Sony
Ok so hear me out.
While there have been rumors that PSVR 2’s launch could land in 2023, it does seem oddly premature to be counting the number of launch titles for a headset that isn’t launching for another 12 months, or possibly even longer (ie: Holiday 2023).
Surely in another year from now the company could court many more launch titles, and that bigger number would be the one they’d want to share with investors. It’s also worth noting that in last year’s Sony Investor Day presentation, the company didn’t say anything about the number of launch titles for PSVR 2, despite mentioning the headset.
On a similar note, it would be strange for the company to reveal the final version of its upcoming headset more than a year before bringing it to market… but as we know, Sony revealed PSVR 2 in full early this year.
Image courtesy Sony
Major consumer electronics products like consoles don’t often launch in Q1, let alone Q2. Case-in-point: every PlayStation console since PS1 has launched in Q3 or Q4… and the same goes for PSVR 1 which launched in Q4.
So a good bet for the release of PSVR 2 is Q4… but the big question is which year?
Again, if we figure Q4 2023, that would mean Sony revealed the final version of PSVR 2 one year and eight months minimum before actually launching the headset… which would be pretty strange for this this kind of product. And that would also mean the company is counting the headset’s launch titles—as it did in this year’s investor day presentation—almost one and a half years ahead of time.
If we figure a Q4 2022 launch… the timing of the headset’s reveal, and the fact that Sony is already counting launch titles, start to make a lot more sense.
But there’s a wildcard, of course; it’s been an unprecedented couple of years with the pandemic changing how organizations do business, not to mention significant disruptions to the global supply chain which has directly impacted Sony’s ability to keep its PS5 in stock.
Turbulence in the global supply chain has shifted even the best laid product launch strategies, so it may simply not be up to Sony if the headset’s launch gets pushed to 2023. For what it’s worth, the company told investors during the presentation that it has “mitigation measures in progress,” when it comes to dealing with supply chain disruptions, including “sourcing multiple suppliers for greater agility in unstable market conditions.”
Horizon: Call of the Mountain is pictured on the page, which is one of the only confirmed titles for PSVR 2 so far. The headset’s launch date is still unconfirmed, but this year looks increasingly unlikely — 2023 could be the current target.
Beyond that, we only know of studios working on PSVR 2 content, but few specific titles or release windows. Nonetheless, we can start to speculate on what games and studios might make up the remaining launch titles.
Truant Pixel’s Runner will also release on PSVR 2, but the release window is currently unconfirmed. Samurai Slaughter House is confirmed for PSVR 2 as well, along with Iris VR’s upcoming title Low-Fi.
There’s a bunch of rumored and unconfirmed games that could fill out the list as well — Resident Evil 8, Gran Turismo 7, Farpoint 2 and more — but you can read about those here.
However, with PSVR 2 now unlikely to launch this year, we might have to wait for the next annual installment for that to eventuate. In an interview with TechRadar, F1 22’s Senior Creative Director Lee Mather stated there was “no plans at this time” for PSVR support, with the VR mode staying exclusive to the PC release for now.
“We’ve been investigating VR for some time and we want to bring it to our F1 game without compromise,” Mather told TechRadar. “We have partnered with a team who has worked on other Codemasters’ titles and it has taken several years to get us to this point where we know we can deliver a premium experience for our players.”
We got our first look at PC VR gameplay of F1 22, and it’s a shame that it won’t be coming to PSVR 2 in any capacity just yet. That being said, even if the developers intended to add PSVR 2 support for F1 22, by the time the headset actually releases, we’ll likely be closer to the release of F1 23. Here’s hoping that something is being planned for that release, at the very least.
Creepy Jar, the developers behind the original flatscreen release of Green Hell on PC and consoles, signed a contract in 2020 with VR developers Incuvo to bring the game to VR on PC VR and Quest platforms. A new extension of that contract, announced this week, will see Incuvo port, publish and distribute the title on PSVR in 2023, with development starting after they finalise the PC VR release this month.
While that’s great news for PSVR fans, a few things remains unclear. First off, it’s not specified whether the release will be for the original PSVR headset or the upcoming PSVR 2 headset for PS5. The former seems unlikely, but we still don’t have a release date for PSVR 2. This year looks unlikely, with a release sometime next year now a safer bet. If that were the case, releasing on PSVR 2 would make the most sense for Green Hell, especially given Incuvo CEO’s recent bullish comments.
However, it’s also not known which version will come to PSVR. While all VR versions of the game stem from the original flatscreen release, the recently-released Quest version is a slightly abridged, streamlined version of the game, designed to work better on the standalone system. However, the upcoming PC VR release is a complete VR port of the original, with all the bells and whistles. It will be interesting to see which version Incuvo chooses to bring over to PSVR next year. We also know that Incuvo is working on new game modes, including co-op support, so hopefully that makes its way into the PSVR version at launch too.
Schell Games confirmed a PSVR 2 release for Among Us VR this week, stating that the game will be available “when the headset releases.”
A new gameplay trailer debuted this week for Among Us VR, which is set to release during the 2022 holiday season for Quest and SteamVR. It showed some of the first in-depth gameplay for the title, revealing how the 2D classic will translate into headsets.
A new @AmongUsVR teaser trailer was shown during the Meta Gaming Showcase.
The game will be available on Meta Quest and SteamVR at launch this 2022 holiday season. It will be available on PlayStation®VR2 when the headset is released. Wishlist the game now! pic.twitter.com/kG902Z9T4C
However, Schell Games put out a tweet after the show confirming that a PSVR 2 version will also be available, but only once the headset itself actually launches.
Among Us had also already been confirmed for the original PSVR headset though this tweet doesn’t mention that version. We reached out to Schell Games to confirm this version is still in the works and will update this article if and when we hear back.
The gameplay trailer for Among Us VR was just one of the many that debuted yesterday at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase. We also saw the announcement of Ghostbusters VR, Bonelab, Red Matter 2 and Espire 2. You can see everything else that was announced here.
On his LinkedIn page under experience, Shabestari lists the aforementioned games and then also lists an ‘Unannounced Title (PSVR 2)’.
Firewall: Zero Hour launched in 2018, exclusive to PSVR, and was one of the most successful and popular multiplayer titles on the platform. After Firewall, the studio released Solaris: Offworld Combat in 2021 for Quest, PSVR and PC VR titles.
It’s now been over a year since the release of Solaris. The wording on the LinkedIn page implies that the next unannounced title could be exclusive (either fully or at least at launch) to PSVR 2. Given this, could the studio be working on a sequel to Firewall as an exclusive for PSVR 2? Or if not a Firewall sequel, perhaps the title is simply a new IP for the headset, available at launch or soon after?
Unity’s GDC talk on PSVR 2 is now available to watch in full.
GDC week came and went without any kind of public showcase for PSVR 2, though we do know Sony was showing the device to developers behind closed doors. But the engine maker did host a talk going over the headset’s features and how they can enhance VR experiences. The full 55 minute talk is now available below.
Now, obviously, this is a GDC talk and not some flashy showcase for the device, so don’t expect any game announcements or release details. But, as we already reported, we do get some of the finer details about how features like foveated rendering can improve performance. The talk also confirms PSVR 1’s social screen feature will return for the new device.
If you’re a developer in particular, you’re likely to find some interesting insights into making games for the device here, particularly for controller input and eye-tracking.
So far we’ve seen the PSVR 2 headset design and its first officially announced game in Horizon: Call of the Mountain. What we don’t know is exactly when the headset will launch, and how much it will cost, but some other VR developers have confirmed they’re making projects for the new headset. You can follow along with every confirmed and rumored game for the device right here, and keep up to date with all we know about PSVR 2 itself right here.
Unity’s GDC talk on PSVR 2 is now available to watch in full.
GDC week came and went without any kind of public showcase for PSVR 2, though we do know Sony was showing the device to developers behind closed doors. But the engine maker did host a talk going over the headset’s features and how they can enhance VR experiences. The full 55 minute talk is now available below.
Now, obviously, this is a GDC talk and not some flashy showcase for the device, so don’t expect any game announcements or release details. But, as we already reported, we do get some of the finer details about how features like foveated rendering can improve performance. The talk also confirms PSVR 1’s social screen feature will return for the new device.
If you’re a developer in particular, you’re likely to find some interesting insights into making games for the device here, particularly for controller input and eye-tracking.
So far we’ve seen the PSVR 2 headset design and its first officially announced game in Horizon: Call of the Mountain. What we don’t know is exactly when the headset will launch, and how much it will cost, but some other VR developers have confirmed they’re making projects for the new headset. You can follow along with every confirmed and rumored game for the device right here, and keep up to date with all we know about PSVR 2 itself right here.
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