PlayStation VR2 Report Raises Major Concerns About the Platform’s Future

A new report has indicated that the future of PlayStation VR2 is looking quite grim. Released only a little more than a year ago, Sony’s latest virtual reality headset has largely been met with praise when it comes to its capabilities as a piece of tech. Sadly, the hardware has failed to generate much interest from consumers for numerous reasons, which has seemingly led to diminished releases for the platform. Now, it sounds as though PSVR2 is about to enter an even deeper lull which could soon after result in support for the device completely ending. 

According to Android Central, Sony is in the process of making “deep cuts” to its funding of titles for PlayStation VR2. This information was relayed via anonymous sources, but if true, it suggests that even Sony is losing faith in its latest PS5 accessory. Perhaps the larger concern with this report is that Sony was already choosing to not fund many PSVR2 games in the first place as only three games (Firewall Ultra, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon: Call of the Mountain) have been published by Sony on the platform to this point. 

Generally speaking, it’s not hard to see why PlayStation VR2 had trouble getting off the ground and finding an audience. For starters, the device is only available for use with PlayStation 5 consoles (at least for now) which on its own costs either $400 or $500. The PSVR2 itself then retails for $549, which means that to simply own everything needed to experience the headset you’ll have to drop well over $1000. That’s clearly a very difficult value proposition for most PlayStation fans. 

As mentioned, Sony itself also hasn’t supported PlayStation VR2 with unique titles from its own first-party studios. While there have been some PSVR2 exclusives that have stemmed from outside developers, Sony clearly never thought it was wise to have companies like Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, or Sucker Punch Productions release titles designed for the headset. Because of this, PSVR2 has largely remained without a killer app which has further led to waning interest in the hardware. 

Even if the PlayStation VR2 ends up dying a quick death, Sony is still finding incredible success with the PS5 as the console’s sales continue to be fantastic. Additionally, last year’s PlayStation Portal accessory has done better than Sony anticipated, which has resulted in some believing that the tech giant might look to re-enter the handheld space in a more prominent way. Only time will if this happens, but if PSVR2 is about to be put to rest, it could free up Sony to work on other hardware initiatives internally.