PlayStation VR2 PC Compatibility Teased by Sony

[T0@st]

Sony's second generation virtual reality headset—PlayStation VR2—is a very neat bit of kit, but many VR gaming enthusiasts believe that its potential is being wasted to some degree. Presently, VR2 is locked into the Sony PlayStation 5 console ecosystem, yet efforts to break this exclusive cycle started many months ago—modders have been working on PC platform support. The "iVRy VR" project is a notable endeavor—its leader outlined a bumpy development road on Reddit late last year: "PS VR2 can now be used for SteamVR on Windows. I wrote the driver some months ago, but the project has been delayed due to hardware or GPU driver hacks necessary to get the headset driven correctly by the GPU." Things are back on track according to iVRy's latest social media posts: "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order running on Sony PS VR2, using UEVR and iVRy Driver for SteamVR (Windows). Use your device as a SteamVR VR Headset for your PC." The latest rumblings from Sony indicate that iVRy's crowdfunded efforts could be usurped in 2024.

First-party support on PC platforms has been teased by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)—a freshly published PlayStation Blog article reveals that a conversion team is tinkering away in the background: "PlayStation VR2 launched one year ago, backed by a 40+ game launch window lineup which included all-new experiences like Horizon Call of the Mountain and Pavlov, as well as PS VR2-compatible titles such as Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village... We're pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5. We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates." Company representatives have insisted, in the past, that their second generation VR headset is exclusive to PlayStation 5—The Verge has "reached out to Sony to clarify exactly what "access additional games on PC" means and whether the support will be limited to certain games. We'll update you accordingly."



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[GodisanAtheist]

VR is already a niche within a niche. Not sure why Sony would limit the use of the headset to only the console.

I see no issues with VR2 being the only headset compatible with the PS5, but there is no reason for the PS5 to be the only thing compatible with the headset.

Price has been my sticking point with dipping my toes into VR for a long time. The Quest 2 at $250 is finally a VR headset with PCVR capabilities that I wouldn't hesitate to purchase just to see what VR is about.

Offer VR2 at $250/299 but to a larger audience and I'll pass on Meta's mandatory account creation and pick up Sony's headset instead.

 

[DaemonForce]

VR is already a niche within a niche.

Are you sure about that?

Out of daily users (the people actually using Steam because it's fun), that's 1.15 million VR users that just recently turned into 1.4 million users.

Totally not a lot of new traffic.

 

[RayneYoruka]

Are you sure about that?

View attachment 335872

View attachment 335873

Out of daily users (the people actually using Steam because it's fun), that's 1.15 million VR users that just recently turned into 1.4 million users.

Totally not a lot of new traffic.

Saying that VR is a niche.. is pretty dumb.. look at how many headsets has sold META already..

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Are you sure about that?

View attachment 335872

View attachment 335873

Out of daily users (the people actually using Steam because it's fun), that's 1.15 million VR users that just recently turned into 1.4 million users.

Totally not a lot of new traffic.

- Yeah I am sure about that. ~2.25% of one storefront's users on only the PC platform have a VR headset, that is not a lot of people. Certainly indicative of a niche product in a niche community (PC Gamers).

You can find 1.5 million people who say the earth is flat or reptilians control the world or whatever nowadays. Its not a lot of people on a planet with 8 billion people.

As a point of comparison, there are about 6.75 billion smartphones in the world today. There are 4 Billion Laptops in the world. Hell, there are 33 Million people who use LINUX (all distros), an OS almost no one has actually heard of.

1.4 Million users is *nothing*, even just on Steam.

Don't let the echochamber of tech forums influence your perception of reality.

 

[HeadRusch1]

Saying that VR is a niche.. is pretty dumb.. look at how many headsets has sold META already..

No, it's totally niche.

But that doesn't mean it's NOT important or valid or even a big part of video games future.

The 30 and 40 series cards from Nvidia are arguably the first true GPU's that can properly drive "AAA" game experiences in VR at native resolutions, maybe even up the scaling a bit.......just go back a few years and you were looking at 1080 Ti's barely able to hit 60fps in games that looked like they were made in UNITY for Mobile Phones........and all our AAA games were being run at low resolutions with scaled-back everything just to get the fluidity in games to keep you from immediatly throwing up with motion sickness

But it's still totally niche. It's important, and it's going nowhere....but it's also not going to wildly take over everyones lives. Anyone can flop on a couch and hold a controller....but you put on a VR headset, your entire body becomes involved, all your senses....more of a commitment, more like getting on a ride at the fair....so it requires a commitment to the experience that a lot of people just don't get or don't want. I ain't that person but I understand why not everyone wants to embrace VR, its still an expensive hassle on the PC side of things.

 

[DaemonForce]

Don't let the echochamber of tech forums influence your perception of reality.

Dude, from 2018-2022 I spent 15K+ hours in SteamVR and half of that meeting tons of people that were mostly doing the same. I think we're a little past forum influence, especially since 20 years of garbage Internet communities have made me sort of hate these places for the kind of noise that is drawn to them. Anyway in the middle of that (about Q2 ~2020), there was an equally big problem in there. A bunch of noisy slackjawed coof tourists were invading a lot of VR spaces and started doing so in places that don't really welcome English (mostly because it's terrifying but also gaijin go home was in effect). A lot of these types were on desktop but as time went on, more and more of them adopted VR, mostly through Meta. Maybe it's niche at that point but what happens when a bunch of high $ Apple cult normies start flooding in on top of that? I left for a reason and JFC what a nightmare.

just go back a few years and you were looking at 1080 Ti's barely able to hit 60fps in games that looked like they were made in UNITY for Mobile Phones

Because they were.

........and all our AAA games were being run at low resolutions with scaled-back everything just to get the fluidity in games to keep you from immediatly throwing up with motion sickness

But it's still totally niche. It's important, and it's going nowhere....but it's also not going to wildly take over everyones lives. Anyone can flop on a couch and hold a controller....but you put on a VR headset, your entire body becomes involved, all your senses....more of a commitment, more like getting on a ride at the fair....so it requires a commitment to the experience that a lot of people just don't get or don't want. I ain't that person but I understand why not everyone wants to embrace VR, its still an expensive hassle on the PC side of things.

Okay so it isn't interesting to normies or what's going on then?

I've been out of VR for a solid 19 months now, mostly to recover some normalcy as a desktop gamer but for the majority of this time it's like I can't be bothered to pick up a controller or run anything. I just end up binging videos. My first adoption of this tech involved the Rift CV-1 and I decided that was good enough until the device breaks or some other hardware blows up. Turns out that was the correct answer but if I ever go back to that, I'm probably not going to be just a user but some kind of entertainer that utilizes this as one of my primary content features.

Throughout 2018 I struggled to maintain 90FPS even in my own projects and 60FPS in fully populated worlds within that HMD setup. I've always been interested in higher frame fluidity (and hardware like the PiMax that could supposedly deliver it). If PSVR is doing 120Hz refresh with better quality and experience than what I've got AND it gets picked up by SteamVR, it would be interesting to see if that's worth it.

I don't want to go back to that unhealthy binge like I used to for any size bag though. That was incredibly unhealthy and even young people shouldn't be doing that.

 

[Space Lynx]

as much as I want to see this happen, and I do, cause this might actually make me move to VR -

it worries me that Sony might become like Sega someday. i mean all their games are on PC, Dualsense is well supported on PC now too. their VR next... i mean at what point do console sales die off as more and more people transition to PC, is the console only crowd going to stay dedicated enough in numbers for ps5 pro and ps6 to warrant a ps7, or will this be the last console or two ever made because one too many people made the transition to PC cause had no need for console anymore.

 

[Luke357]

as much as I want to see this happen, and I do, cause this might actually make me move to VR -

it worries me that Sony might become like Sega someday. i mean all their games are on PC, Dualsense is well supported on PC now too. their VR next... i mean at what point do console sales die off as more and more people transition to PC, is the console only crowd going to stay dedicated enough in numbers for ps5 pro and ps6 to warrant a ps7, or will this be the last console or two ever made because one too many people made the transition to PC cause had no need for console anymore.

There are plenty of people that won't buy a gaming computer to warrant a PS6 and probably 7. PC gaming while getting more popular can't replace the simplicity of a gaming console that you just plug into a TV and having it just work. I personally will probably never buy a console but I see the appeal. After a long day I just want to play some Battlefield and not have to tinker (which I do love doing ofc that's why I'm here).

 

[ZoneDymo]

im all for it, I would love a headset that, for some gaming, could replace my desktop monitor, all I want is seeing my games in 3D and maybe for the more advanced titles, be able to look around in first person games with just the headset

 

[TechLurker]

Considering that the PSVR1 could technically be used with PC, just more like a wearable monitor rather than a VR device, and reportedly, so could the PSVR2, I see this as being the next logical step.

Especially considering its cost and relative comfort compared to most other headsets are often cited as strong positives in most reviews. It could also pave the way to Sony's future PSVR3 adopting even more PCVR-specific features such as wireless connection, full-body tracking, and even more compatibility with PCVR games.

 

[Upgrayedd]

How do the controllers compare to the Valve Knuckles? Could this be used to replace just the Valve Index in a full Valve VR setup?

 

[Tartaros]

as much as I want to see this happen, and I do, cause this might actually make me move to VR -

it worries me that Sony might become like Sega someday. i mean all their games are on PC, Dualsense is well supported on PC now too. their VR next... i mean at what point do console sales die off as more and more people transition to PC, is the console only crowd going to stay dedicated enough in numbers for ps5 pro and ps6 to warrant a ps7, or will this be the last console or two ever made because one too many people made the transition to PC cause had no need for console anymore.

I have been outside the modern console loop from 2001 to 2019, I occasionally touched a PS3 to beat GoW3 and MGS4 back in the day. And after coming back in the late PS4 era for GoW and FF7R, man, it's a breeze how consoles work. And if I, who is the kind of person who almost spends more time looking for mods and touching things in the GPU control panel than playing the actual game and actively looks info, think the console experience it's the best, most comfortable gaming experience, imagine the rest of the gaming world who probably just tried clunky preinstalled games in the family PC when they were 10, they aren't going to even to look at a PC. Even if Sony goes under for whatever reason, someone else will stand up because there is money to be made in console gaming, as much we tend to scoff at it in PC forums. It's just easy and effective.

 

[JAB Creations]

120,000hz display? Is that like, melting people's eyeballs?

 

[Guwapo77]

As soon as there is a VR2 sale, I'm buying one. This is all the news I needed to hear to buy one.

 

[Space Lynx]

As soon as there is a VR2 sale, I'm buying one. This is all the news I needed to hear to buy one.

same here. which means it prob won't go on sale, cause demand is going up lol

 

[Guwapo77]

same here. which means it prob won't go on sale, cause demand is going up lol

I've thought about that too, but I have access to stores that aren't in touch with the local economy. We'll see what happens on the next holiday.

 

[Kyan]

I hope it will not be locked to a Sony exclusive launcher where you need to buy games. I want it to be compatible with SteamVR. But in all honesty I'm more interested to upgrade my Rift S with what Valve is cooking

 

[Upgrayedd]

I hope it will not be locked to a Sony exclusive launcher where you need to buy games. I want it to be compatible with SteamVR. But in all honesty I'm more interested to upgrade my Rift S with what Valve is cooking

Are we sure they're even making an Index 2?

 

[Space Lynx]

Are we sure they're even making an Index 2?

Our Lord and Savior will not let us down, of course they are. ALL HAIL! LORD GABEN!