PSVR 2 Outsold Original PSVR in First 6 Weeks, Sony Confirms

Sony revealed PSVR 2 outperformed the original PSVR in sales in the first six weeks, taking a strong early lead over the company’s first-gen PlayStation headset.

An investor relations presentation delivered by Sony Interactive Entertainment chief Jim Ryan includes some new information detailing PSVR 2 units sales relative to the original PSVR launched in October 2016.

According to a chart in Ryan’s presentation, Sony’s latest headset has sold 8% more than the original in the first six weeks, ostensibly spanning from its February 22nd, 2023 launch to April 5th.

Image courtesy Sony

The graph’s y-axis is unlabeled, although it’s likely those numbers are in the thousands of units, which would mean PSVR 2 sold around 450,000 units in its first week, trailing up to just under 600,000 at the six-week mark.

PSVR 2’s adoption curve is notably flatter than the original PSVR, which started at just north of 300,000 units in its first week, ending up at around 550,000 units by week six. When Sony last released sales figures in 2020, the original PSVR had sold around 5 million lifetime units. Notably, PSVR reached its first million in just under its five months.

PSVR 2’s game library consists of a few strong anchor titles, such as Horizon Call of the Mountain, Resident Evil Village, and Gran Turismo 7 while offering an array of upgraded PSVR content and newly ported Quest titles. Upcoming titles include Ghostbusters VR, Beat Saber, Crossfire: Sierra Squad, Resident Evil 4, Synapse, The Foglands, Green Hell VR, and Behemoth.

To keep PSVR 2’s unit sales above the original, the company undoubtably needs to focus on widening its content offering in the coming months. The company is hosting a PlayStation gaming showcase later today which we hope will reveal a little more about the company’s near-term content strategy for PSVR 2.

Capcom: “Large Majority” Of PSVR 2 Users Have Tried Resident Evil Village In VR Mode

Resident Evil Village VR Mode Director Kazuhiro Takahara told UploadVR that a “very large majority” of PSVR 2 owners have tried out Resident Evil Village in VR mode.

In a snippet from an upcoming Q&A to be published this weekend, we asked Capcom’s Kazuhiro Takahara, Director on Resident Evil Village VR mode, if he could share any indication of how successful the game’s VR mode has been or how many PlayStation VR2 players have tried out the mode since launch.

“I can’t share exact numbers,” said Takahara, “but I have heard that a very large majority of PS VR2 owners have played Resident Evil Village in VR.”

This tracks with what you might expect, given that Village was one of the headset’s most high-profile launch games and an existing PS5 title that many new PSVR 2 users might have already owned before getting the headset. That said, there’s also no indication of how long those users played for – it’s unlikely they all finished the campaign and many might have just tried it out in VR mode for an hour or two.

Yesterday, analyst firm IDC (International Data Corporation) told that Bloomberg that Sony is “likely” to have sold only around 270,000 PSVR 2 units between launch and the end of March. That said, we also posed the question of whether Sony is just getting started with PSVR 2. 

Headset sales aside, PSVR 2 released with a pretty strong launch lineup and Resident Evil Village was among our top picks. In our review, we called it a stunning and engaging horror shooter, praising the clever adjustments made to translate the game to VR and its satisfying gunplay.

Keep an eye out for our full Q&A with Kazuhiro Takahara later this weekend, where we discuss the challenges of developing Village’s VR Mode, future plans for the series in VR and more.

Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution Now Available On PSVR 2 & PC VR

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution is now available on PlayStation VR2 and PC VR.

 

Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2 launched last December for Quest 2, featuring some pretty glaring bugs and issues that plagued the initial release. However, two weeks later developers Skydance Interactive patched the game to address those major bugs. In our review, which was published post-patch, we noted that the most severe and game-breaking bugs had seemingly been resolved, but some smaller pop-in issues still remained.

Three months later, the game is available on PC VR and PSVR 2. Players now also have the ability to transfer Chapter 1 save data from Meta, PC and PlayStation platforms to a copy of Chapter 2 on Meta, PC and PlayStation (Pico support for this feature is “arriving later this year”). Skydance also says that a day one patch for this version of the game includes improved environmental lighting, improved NPC animations and rebalanced armored enemies.

Skydance indicated that Retribution features platform-specific visual upgrades on PSVR 2. Exact details of those upgrades weren’t provided, but you can check out some footage in the PSVR 2 and PC VR launch trailer embedded above. On Quest 2, the game looks acceptable with lots of room for improvement – here’s hoping the power of the PS5 lets Skydance push the visual fidelity up on PSVR 2 then.

The PS5 version of Saints & Sinners – Chapter 1 is also now available on PSVR 2, bringing the acclaimed original game to Sony’s latest headset. Those who own the ‘Tourist Edition’ of the original on PS4 will receive the PS5 version for free, while those with the standard edition on PS4 can upgrade for $10. For those who are completely new to the franchise, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are also available in a bundle for PSVR 2.

We’re looking forward to checking out Chapter 2 on PSVR 2 this week – fingers crossed this release runs smoother than the Quest version did last December.

You can read more in our full Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2 Review for Quest.

The best PSVR2 games

Playstation VR2 already has a fantastic lineup of VR titles, from VR classics rebuilt for the new headset to brand new exclusives.

Platform Puzzler ‘HUMANITY’ Launches Today on PSVR 2 & PC VR, Trailer Here

HUMANITY, the crowd simulation puzzler from Enhance and THA, is here, bringing all of its Lemmings-inspired glory to PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets today.

HUMANITY is available on PSVR, PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets starting today. As a PlayStation Plus title for May, it will also be free to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members during the month of May. You can find it here on the PlayStation Store and on Steam, priced at $30.

At the time of this writing, HUMANITY is already available in Europe on the PS Store and is soon to unlock on the platform in North America in the coming hours. We’ve included the new launch trailer ahead of the original article below:

Japan-based studio Enhance and developers THA LTD announced HUMANITY is coming to PSVR, PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets on May 16th, which also includes flatscreen support.

The game is set to launch on PS5/PS4 as a PlayStation Plus title for May, which means it will be free to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members throughout the month.

The studio also released a new trailer showing off some of the infectiously weird (and patently Japanese) marketing spliced in with gameplay which may pique your interest, embedded below the update.

Note: The previously mentioned demo is no longer available.

Original Article (February 28th, 2023): It was pretty vague what the hell HUMANITY was all about when it was first announced in 2019, however now the studio reveals its upcoming game is a “unique blend of puzzle-solving and action-platforming,” giving you control over an ethereal Shiba Inu dog who commands a massive crowd.

Like Lemmings, you control the crowd as they jump, turn, push, float, shoot, and climb their way to the end goal. Move past obstacles, enemies, puzzles, and gain unlockable skills in the main game, and upload and try out user-built levels with the in-game Stage Creator.

Image courtesy Tha LTD, Enhance

To create its stark and unique environments, developer Tha LTD is working with creative studio Enhance—founded by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, known as the mind behind Rez and Tetris Effect: Connected—and director and visual designer Yugo Nakamura.

Tha game is considered a VR-optional experience, offering up a fairly straightforward implementation that lets you turn the game’s puzzle-filled levels around and control your Shiba Inu buddy and direct the human horde. While nothing ground-breaking, it’s nice to see VR support from the get-go.

The game is slated to release on PSVR, PSVR 2, and SteamVR headsets sometime in May (see update). What’s more, you can now play a free demo on those platforms from now until March 6th. The demo contains 10 levels, while the full game has “90 plus”, the studio says.

In the meantime, check out the demo gameplay video overview below to learn more:

Kill It With Fire VR Goes Hunting On April 13 For Quest 2 & PC VR (Updated)

Spider hunter game Kill It With Fire is coming to VR headsets later this year.

Update March 24, 2023: As confirmed during the Future Games Show, Kill It With Fire VR arrives on Quest 2 and PC VR on April 13, while it launches for the original PSVR and PSVR 2 later this year. Original article, published February 24, continues below with a new trailer attached.

This new VR version of the game is set for release on Quest 2, SteamVR, the original PSVR and PSVR 2. While we don’t have any VR gameplay just yet, you can check out the trailer for the flatscreen version embedded above.

kill it with fire vr

The game will see you go to war with house spiders, tearing rooms apart and building new tools from household items to get rid of the arachnids menaces once and for all:

The leggy lurkers hide anywhere and everywhere. Even the odds collecting a bevy of weapons, utilising state-of-the-art spider-tracking technology, and mastering the new VRACHNID(™) gloves to better detect the eight-legged enemies. Follow the tracker and listen for the telltale squeaks indicating spiders, spiderlings, and other unholy abominations. 
Smash arachnids with office supplies and frying pans, blast spiderlings with shotguns, and slice through eight-legged armies with ninja weaponry. Lob TNT at them for good measure. Still feeling phantom legs crawling around? Whip out that flamethrower and burn it all down. 
kill it with fire vr
Development of the VR release is being handled by Casey Donnellan, the same solo developer behind the flatscreen release, and published by tinyBuild. “Fans have been asking for a VR version of Kill It With Fire since the very first footage of the original game,” said Donnellan, in a prepared statement. “I’m really happy that we can finally put horrifying spiders on a screen less than an inch from players’ eyeballs!”
 

Hellsweeper PSVR 2 Release Confirmed, Coming Later This Year

Upcoming dark fantasy combat game Hellsweeper VR will release on PlayStation VR2 later this year.

It’s a new title from Mixed Realm, the team behind Sairento, and will be published by Vertigo Games, known for Arizona Sunshine, A Fisherman’s Tale and more. Hellsweeper was originally set for release on PC VR and Quest 2 in late 2022, but in November a delay was confirmed, pushing the game to Q2 2023.

Vertigo and Mixed Realms confirmed a PSVR 2 release for Hellsweeper this week, with the PlayStation blog stating that the PSVR 2 version will arrive “later this year.”

We tried the game out last year at Gamescom, noting that its fast-paced and intense combat was a lot of fun. The game focuses on a gesture-based system that lets you summon expendable weapons with awesome results:

What makes this system really interesting is the combos you can create by combining two weapons or spells together. If you summon an item in each hand, you can smash them together to create a unique combination with different effects. Smashing my fireball onto my sword, for example, gave me a flaming sword. Likewise, combining a fireball and a bow together creates flaming arrows. You can even combine multiples of the same spell together – two fireballs merge to create one massive ball of energy, which I could shoot across the map and detonate at will.

For more info, you can read our full Hellsweeper VR hands-on from Gamescom.

Hellsweeper VR releases for PC VR, Quest 2 and PSVR 2 later this year – keep an eye out for more news in the months ahead.

Hello Neighbor: Search And Rescue Releases On PSVR 2 In May

Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue will release May 24 for PlayStation VR2.

Developers tinyBuild first revealed the game several months ago, announcing a simultaneous launch on PSVR 2 and PC VR on February 22. However, a few weeks before PSVR 2 launch, the game’s release date was removed and it was seemingly delayed with no update release window.

This week, Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue’s PlayStation page was updated with a new release date, accepting pre-orders for May 24, 2023. The PC VR release remains unconfirmed and is still listed as ‘Coming Soon’ on Steam. We sought confirmation  from a tinyBuild representative on both the PSVR 2 and PC VR release dates and will update this piece if we receive a response.

Hello Neighbor is a popular flatscreen franchise and this will mark its first venture onto VR headsets. Described as a VR horror-puzzle game, tinyBuild says that players will “sneak into your creepy neighbor’s house to save your friend,” with multiple playable characters, environmental puzzles and non-linear exploration. 

You can view the game’s PlayStation store listing here or the PC VR listing over on Steam.