PSVR 2 Won’t Be Backwards Compatible With PSVR Games

It’s been confirmed that the next generation of VR headsets for PlayStation won’t work with existing PSVR games. The PSVR 2 is currently in the works over at Sony and has made its first public appearance at Tokyo Game Show this week. However, despite the kit having some fantastic new features that players have been testing out in Resident Evil Village at Tokyo Game Show, this news will come as a disappointment to many.

Speaking on the Official PlayStation Podcast, Senior Vice President of Platform Experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment Hideaki Nishino dropped the news regarding backwards compatibility. Or lack thereof. In the podcast’s latest episode, Nishino confirms that the next-generation headset will, in fact, require next-generation games to work with.

According to Nishino, “PlayStation VR games are not compatible with PlayStation VR2 because PlayStation VR2 is designed to be a truly next-generation virtual reality experience.” Essentially it sounds as though the new technology has been designed to work with the most cutting-edge kind of games, which is possibly a bit disappointing for those who currently own a number of PSVR titles and were expecting backwards compatibility to be an option.

Nishino elaborates further on this move from Sony, explaining that “PlayStation VR2 has much more advanced features like an all-new controller with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, as I’ve said, and inside-out tracking in it, 3D audio is coming together, 4K HDR of course.” These enhancements to the technology apparently mean that the games it works with will need to match up to what the PS VR2 has to offer. Nishino continues, admitting that “this means that making games for PlayStation VR2 requires a whole different approach than the original PlayStation VR.” However, it seems as though Sony are keen to stand behind this decision, as in their view, “these features actually enable developers to create worlds that feel more vivid and alive and bring players closer to the experience than ever.”

While this news may be disappointing to the gaming community, it’ll probably also be a challenge for developers of existing PSVR who may have been hoping to get their games operational on the PSVR 2 as well. With the advancements in the technologies used in the PSVR2 though, it’s possibly not that much of a surprise that this has been revealed.

On the plus side, Sony has already confirmed that the PSVR 2 will launch with more than 20 playable major titles, including Horizon: Call of the Mountain, the VR-only spin-off title from the popular Horizon Zero Dawn franchise. Other confirmed PSVR 2 games so far are Firmament, Samurai Slaughter House and the hugely popular Among Us.

There’s no confirmed release date as yet for the PSVR 2, but we do know that it’s set to launch at some point in 2023.

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