Sony has committed to a release window for the upcoming PlayStation VR2 headset, pinning the PSvR 2 launch down for ‘early 2023’ in some strangely timed social media posts tonight.
Coming early 2023. #PSVR2 pic.twitter.com/R3MwWVPyNt
— PlayStation UK (@PlayStationUK) August 22, 2022
As the summer months had crept by, it was becoming less and less likely that Sony would be able to muster a late 2022 launch to catch the holiday buying window, but an early 2023 launch will still allow Sony to release the headset into the wild this fiscal year. It has largely been expected for early 2023 by industry analysts and insiders, but Sony had been tight-lipped on that one key fact up until this point.
Sony has been providing a drip feed of news and details about PSVR 2 over the last year. We know that they will have over 20 launch titles for the system which could include No Man’s Sky, Ghostbusters VR, and one of the biggest games, Horizon Call of the Mountain. In fact, it’s entirely possible that it’s a combination of game development progress and physical manufacturing that has led Sony to settle for 2023.
Sony has also revealed the core specs of the headset, which will leverage the power of the PlayStation 5 to make the most of what it offers. There’s a 4K HDR 110º display built into the headset offering 2000×2040 per eye and frame rates up to 90/120Hz. It also ditches the external camera of the original PSVR in favour of inside-out tracking that has become standard across VR headsets, while there’s eye-tracking internally that can let you look and focus on world objects and allow for optimised rendering techniques.
Meanwhile the Sense controller leverages the same haptic feedback and adaptive trigger technology of the DualSense controller, but comes with a new design that puts analog sticks under your thumbs.
On the software side, PSVR 2 will feature a ‘see-through’ view, broadcast mode & cinema mode.
Now that we have an official launch window in mind for PSVR 2, developers can focus on getting their games all set for launch, while PS5 owners can rest easy knowing that a big tech purchase is on the far side of Christmas (which is going to be really, really tricky financially…)
Source: Twitter
camdaz
That’s what I expected. All we need now is the price, I’m guessing £450 – £500 but I’m hoping it’ll be a bit less.
Dominic L
I think it’ll be under £400 – or they’re going to just price too many people out of it.
MrYd
I suspect the price may suddenly now be more than they were intending with the weird price increase for the Quest 2. That had a £299 price Sony would have to at least match. But now it’s £399.
My guess would be PSVR2 ends up being the same price as a PS5. But the cheaper digital-only PS5. So £359. Beats the current main competition’s price, and doesn’t end up with the ridiculous situation of costing more than the PS5 you need to use it.
But it’s Sony, so who knows what they’ll do. Should have been an easy win for them, but they might try and screw it up. The technical specs are pretty decent, but now they seem to be waiting for everyone to overtake them before they actually release the thing. Instead of just now saying “early 2023”, they should be saying “it costs this much, and you can get it in a couple of months”.
And the more I see those controllers, the more enormous they look. I worry that PSVR2 is going to be full of novelty control schemes and a lack of an option to use the DualSense when it’s appropriate, which it frequently is. With Sony’s history, there’ll be strongly encouraged use of those controllers, horrible default “comfort” options you have to adjust for every game (if it’s even an option) and probably a well hidden option to turn off the headset vibration (because I definitely don’t want my head being vibrated, that just sounds horrible).
Maybe “early 2023” gives them time to convince people. Early 2022, I’d have got one day one. October? Probably. Early next year? Might wait a couple of months.
stigdu
Is that *before* or *after* they’ve refunded about £5bn to their customers for overcharging?
MrYd
Before, clearly. That’s never going to happen. We’re also clearly going to get our hands on PSVR2 before that ridiculous claim for £5bn gets laughed out of court.