I’m still finding it difficult to judge PlayStation’s showcase. On the one hand, it was chock full of interesting, unique games that made me want to root for them, like Tides of Annihilation. On the other, its two big hitters of 2025 (Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2) were conspicuous by their absence. What is clear, however, is that the PS VR2 experiment seems to have failed.
PS VR2 fans tend to be very protective about their investment, and I get it. The PS VR2 is an impressive piece of kit, and having tried a few, I think it’s the most comfortable headset (especially with glasses) and comes with the most intuitive and clicky controllers. It also has some good games, though few of them are exclusives. But even its most ardent defenders must surely see Sony has not given VR the support it seemed to promise when the VR2 arrived.
Only One VR Game Appeared At State Of Play, And It’s Not Even A True VR Game
The State of Play included just one mention of VR, and it was an optional part of The Midnight Walk, which will mostly be played in its regular, non-VR mode. The medium as a whole is still struggling for full mainstream acceptance, but has been moving from strength to strength amongst those already in its clutches. Asgard’s Wrath 2 and Batman: Arkham Shadow both advanced the medium and showed that blockbusters belong in virtual reality, but neither is on PS VR2.
In the past, the PlayStation showcases have at least had a few ports that had already been on other headsets, and occasionally something that was launching day and date on the PS VR2 with its competitors. Exclusives have been few and far between, with launch title Horizon: Call of the Mountain still the only game to attempt to translate That Sony Feeling into VR. This time? Nothing.
It’s hard not to read into that. While there are factors in why Ghost of Yotei might skip, PlayStation having no PS VR2 games to show off after a year of not having any PS VR2 games to show off makes it seem like the venture has been deemed to be at an end. And while there’s not that much to miss, it still makes me sad.
VR’s Future May Be Bright, But It Might Not Include PlayStation
I said already that PS VR2 fans are highly protective, and the comments may already feature dissenting voices who feel I am calling time of death prematurely. They are part of the reason this saddens me – the playerbase may not be as big as Sony would like it to be, but those who are there are highly passionate, and to abandon PS VR2 feels like squandering that passion.
But there is a point where reality bites. People were repping Google Stadia right up until the final hours too – PS VR2’s sales are, by Sony’s own admission, nowhere near as good as it anticipated. I understand from a business perspective that PlayStation’s VR arm cannot be prioritised when so few people own the expensive kit required for it. However, the demise of PS
VR2 makes me far sadder than hearing that various live-service projects have been shut down.
There are still some games coming to PS VR2 this year, of course. Low-Fi seems interesting, and Aces of Thunder has been heavily anticipated since its original intended launch window of 2023, though neither is exclusive to the platform. Then there is The Midnight Walk of course, but that’s also not exclusive. If you are content to stick your fingers in your ears you can convince yourself that grey skies are gonna clear up. But if you remove those fingers from the ears, you will hear… silence. Silence where Sony had a perfect window to promote anything at all for its VR, and chose not to use it.
It all ends up feeling like a long, slow death for PlayStation’s VR ambitions. It hasn’t sold enough headsets to justify making new games, and it won’t make new games with so few headsets sold. It will drift on for a few years, occasionally getting ports of games other headsets had months ago, and by the time the PS6 rolls around it will finally be consigned to history. It will be mourned by few, but it will be mourned deeply. The PS VR2 will always be a story of what could have been.
- Released
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May 8, 2025
- Developer(s)
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MoonHood
- Publisher(s)
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Fast Travel Games