After months of silence regarding the follow-up to the original PS VR, Sony has finally made an official announcement. According to Sony, the all-new PS VR, which will be exclusive to the PlayStation 5, will enable the “ultimate entertainment experience with dramatic leaps in performance and interactivity.”. They add that the new VR will help players “feel an even greater sense of presence and become even more immersed in their game worlds”. Judging from that statement alone, we can assume that the next-gen PS VR is going to be a huge improvement over the currently available PS VR. With that said, there’s still a lot about the next-gen PS VR that most people don’t know about. While Sony has yet to officially discuss certain details about the next-gen PS VR, we were able to round up all the available information surrounding the more powerful VR device for the PlayStation 5.
What’s New in the PS5 VR?
Sony wasn’t very specific about what the new PS5 VR will be like. However, they did highlight in their announcement that they are going to release a new VR controller to go along with the new VR device for the PlayStation 5. According to Sony, the new VR controller will focus on improving ergonomics and incorporate features currently found in the all-new DualSense controller. Unfortunately, Sony did not specify which DualSense features they will incorporate with the next-gen VR controllers. However, we can safely assume that they will include at least haptic feedback and a built-in speaker or microphone (preferably both). Another useful piece of information that we have about the new VR headset is that it will use a single cord set-up. This alone is a huge improvement over what the current PS VR has, which is cumbersome to set-up, to say the least. Sony Senior Vice President Hideaki Nishino also claims that the all-new PS VR will be an improvement in everything from “resolution and field of view to tracking and input.”
Is There a New PS5 VR Controller?
After revealing the new PS5 VR last month, Sony finally unveiled the new controllers that will match the upcoming VR headset. The new VR controller (it doesn’t have an official name yet) forgoes the archaic wand-like design of the PlayStation Move. Instead, it uses a more orb-like shape. According to Sony, this “iconic design” allows for a more natural fit around the hands of users so as it doesn’t put an added and unnecessary stress on their fingers. The VR controller will also be coming with some of the best features that the DualSense has to offer. This includes Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Trigger. Then, Sony took a page out of Valve’s playbook and added finger touch detection that works similarly to the Knuckle controllers to make way for “more natural gestures” when playing. Another new addition to the VR controller is a tracking ring located at the base. It will no longer be tracked by the PlayStation Camera as well. Instead, it will be tracked by the PS5 VR headset and will have an analog stick, grip button, trigger button, button inputs (two) on each side with a “Create” button on the left and an “Options” button on the right. Unfortunately, after unveiling the new VR controllers, Sony did not mention when they will make them available. The only thing that Sony said was that they will be handing over prototypes to developers soon. But, if it’s any consolation, Sony did go on to add that they still plan on sharing more about the new PS5 VR in the future.
What Is The PS5 VR Price?
Sony has yet to confirm just how much they will sell the PS5 VR for, but we can expect them to try and at least keep the prices low. The original PS VR sold very well due to several reasons. First, the PSVR integrated well into the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. It was also so much cheaper compared to its competition. Because of this, Sony will have to take a similar approach. Otherwise, they risk infuriating fans who are already not happy with the price increase of the frequently-unavailable PlayStation 5 console. Of course, we wouldn’t be surprised if Sony bites the bullet and makes the next-gen PS VR even cheaper. As of the moment, many standalone VR devices today cost just as much as the PS VR and are usually more powerful with support for higher resolution. Sony will need to make the next-gen PS VR both affordable and powerful if they are to stay competitive.
When Is The PS5 VR Release Date?
In their February 2021 announcement, Sony clarified that fans shouldn’t expect the PS5 VR to launch in 2021. Also from the same post, Sony mentioned that the development community is currently working on the new VR system right now. Unfortunately, this doesn’t shed any light on how long it’s been in development. Considering that it won’t launch in 2021, it’s safe to assume that it’s not close to being ready for launch yet. But, Sony may be purposely holding it back to make sure that it has very minimal issues at launch.
