Will Sony release a new PlayStation VR to accompany the launch of the PS5? It doesn’t look like it. Speaking to CNet at the Toronto Collision conference, Sony’s Global Head of Research and Development for PlayStation, Dominic Mallinson, noting that Sony has “no reason” to launch a new PlayStation VR alongside the PS5, saying that launching two new products alongside each other would only confuse and overwhelm consumers, which Sony would want to avoid at all costs.
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“From the point of view of the consumer, to be bombarded with many many things – ‘oh, you have to buy this, you have to buy that’ – is a message that we don’t want to send,” said Mallinson. “In some ways, it’s good to have a little breathing space between those things.”
Mallinson also acknowledged that VR development is only starting to become a reasonable venture for studios to take on. And even now it’s not easy to make money shipping a VR games.
“The fact of life is, you get a little less in terms of commercial movement from the VR titles,” said Mallinson. “We’re just reaching that level now where, as a developer you can say, ‘OK, I can make money. It’s not easy, but I can now make money.’”
When asked about the recently releases Oculus Quest — which is a stand-alone VR unit that doesn’t require a computer or any wires — Mallinson thinks what Facebook has achieved is great, but Sony isn’t sure a more mobile VR is the direction it wants to go in. However, Sony is looking into the possibility of a wire-free experience, which is something more and more VR users are clamoring for.
Of course, there’s a good chance we’ll see the PlayStation VR 2 sometime in the future, but it won’t be in time for the PS5 launch. That said, the current PlayStation VR does work with the PS5, so it’s not like Sony is leaving behind VR with this generation of systems.
Anyway, as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think. Would you be interested in a new PlayStation VR? If so, what would you want to see from it?
