Sony has revealed new details about its own VR glasses. The PlayStation VR2 is said to bring some technical improvements. However, VR fans also have to accept a huge setback.
PlayStation VR2 has to do without games from its predecessor
The successor to the VR glasses PlayStation VR is due to be released in early 2023 after delays. For the sake of simplicity, the new glasses are simply called PlayStation VR2. In the official PlayStation podcast, however, Sony is now making it clear that the games for the predecessor will not work on the new glasses. Senior Vice President of Platform Experience Hideaki Nishino justifies this lack of backwards compatibility with the fact that PlayStation VR2 should offer a completely new experience (source: PlayStation Podcast).
For the PlayStation VR2, Sony is developing the VR technology so much that the older games do not work on the new glasses. This may be understandable from a developer perspective, but it also means that the more than 500 games for PlayStation VR probably won’t be able to enjoy these technical improvements now.
Check out the trailer for Horizon Call of the Mountain for PSVR2 here:
Horizon Call of the Mountain: Trailer for the VR spin-off
PSVR games could still end up on the PlayStation VR 2 after all
However, according to well-known insider PSVR Without Parole, there is hope that you will see the games from Sony’s first generation of VR on the PlayStation VR 2. According to this, numerous developers are already work on appropriate ports. However, he does not name specific names.
The rumor also leaves open the question whether Sony will ask fans to pay for these ports again. If the technical improvements of the PSVR2 actually have to change so much, this would be quite conceivable. At best, however, it is a free upgrade, as is the case between PS4 and PS5. At the moment we can only wait and see (Source: PSVR2 Without Parole).
Sony generally has one difficult relationship with backwards compatibility. Many PS4 games also run on the PlayStation 5, sometimes the upgrade is free, sometimes it costs – chaotic. Before that, however, the PlayStation 4 had completely closed the doors to the PS3 and only certain versions of the PS3 support the games on the PS2. But practically all games of the original PlayStation also run on the successor PS2.
