I’ve been thinking about selling my PlayStation VR2 for months, and after some devastating news I’m finally ready to let it go.
Months ago, I put the PSVR 2 away in a closet. I hadn’t played it in a long time, but I was hoping that maybe Sony would release new games that would make me want to pull it out again. Based on Android Central After this reporting, I should give up those hopes: Sony has apparently cut funding for VR games and is only working on two more PSVR 2 titles. Two!
The future of the headset has been bleak for some time. Earlier this year, Sony laid off developers at Firesprite, the studio that Horizon Call of the Mountain. The London studio was closed, which PlayStation VR worldsa game that was bundled with the original PSVR. Since its launch in February 2023, Sony has barely featured any PSVR 2 games in its announcement showcases, and none of those games have been major first-party PSVR 2 titles. Sony isn’t even developing a PSVR 2 mode for Astro Bot despite the great love of the people Astro Bot Rescue Mission on the PSVR.
Before the release, I was really excited about the PSVR 2. I was eagerly waiting for new games like horizon and new VR modes for titles like Gran Turismo 7 and that Resident Evil 4 Remake. The price was annoying – I pre-ordered the $599 package with horizon — but I thought I would get my money’s worth by finally tackling some VR classics like Pistol whip alongside new PSVR 2 titles. (I knew PSVR 2 couldn’t play PSVR games, but that didn’t bother me.)
I was also excited to finally own a VR headset and spend some time with it. I had played around with a few VR headsets before – I remember being blown away by an Oculus Rift demo at a PAX conference – but I really thought the PSVR 2 was going to be particularly great. The edge The nerd in me was impressed by the technology: I couldn’t wait to enjoy 4K gaming on the PSVR 2’s dual OLED displays and see how developers could use eye tracking to create new gaming possibilities.
Let’s just say I didn’t get what I paid for. I did a little experimenting: What the hell? was wonderfully silly and full of VR chaos. runner I felt like an action hero in an old-school anime. Gran Turismo 7 almost made me a PSVR 2 believer. No Man’s Sky was a haunting but overwhelming journey into space. And Before your eyes made me cry into my headset.
But I mostly just played around. Nothing was engaging enough to keep me playing it over and over again. The only game I completed was Before your eyesand that’s because it only took about an hour and a half. After reading The Verge website mediocre rating of Horizon Call of the Mountainit fell to the bottom of my list and I never got around to doing it. Resident Evil 4 on PSVR 2 made me sick. Looking back at my gaming history, I’ve only invested about 20 hours into PSVR 2 games.
Setting everything up for gaming was also a tedious task. The PSVR 2 has needs to be plugged into the PS5 for it to work. That meant that every time I wanted to play, I had to fish the PSVR 2 out of the box, plug it in, and—since the PSVR 2 doesn’t have hand tracking either—cross my fingers that the Sense controllers were charged so I could actually play something.
I also didn’t like how the PSVR 2 isolated me in my own house. Since I could only play while plugged into the PS5, I didn’t have the option to go to another room—unlike Meta’s Quest headsets, which I can use anywhere in the house. Since my partner and I live in a small condo, we usually both share the living room when one of us uses the entertainment center. Yes, when I used the PSVR 2, she could see my game on our TV. But since I wasn’t able to look her in the eye right next to me, I felt like I was locking her out.
My PSVR 2 is gathering dust
So my PSVR 2 is gathering dust and I see no reason to bring it out again. (I know Sony is releasing an adapter that will allow you to connect the PSVR 2 to a PC, but I don’t have a powerful gaming PC so it’s not important to me.)
I should have known better when I pre-ordered the headset. Sony has a habit of stepping on its own toes when building platforms that aren’t its main console. Sony’s support for the first PSVR was pretty half-hearted, after all. The PlayStation Vita was popular despite Sony’s first-party support, not because of it. The company took ages to put some flagship games on its PlayStation Now cloud service. It insists on forcing PC gamers to use PSN accounts. for single player games even after the planned requirement for Helldivers 2 after the backlash – to better encourage you to purchase a future console.
I think I’ll get the PSVR 2 out of the closet soon. But I’m only moving it so I can sell it to someone else.