PlayStation 5

Sony removes still-unmet “8K” promise from PS5 packaging

8K, gaming, graphics, packaging, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, promise, resolution, Sony / Mike M. / June 6, 2024

8K? We never said 8K! —

Move could presage an expected resolution bump in the rumored PS5 Pro.

Kyle Orland – Jun 6, 2024 5: 00 pm UTC

The new PS5 packaging, as seen on the PlayStation Direct online store, is missing the “8K” label in the corner.
The original PS5 packaging with the 8K label, as still seen on the GameStop website.

When we first received our PlayStation 5 review unit from Sony in 2020, we reacted with some bemusement to the “8K” logo on the box and its implied promise of full 7630×4320 resolution output. We then promptly forgot all about it since native 8K content and 8K compatible TVs have remained a relative curiosity thus far in the PS5’s lifespan.

But on Wednesday, Digital Foundry’s John Linneman discovered that Sony has quietly removed that longstanding 8K label from the PS5 box. The ultra-high-resolution promise no longer appears on the packaging shown on Sony’s official PlayStation Direct store, a change that appears to have happened between late January and mid-February, according to Internet Archive captures of the store page (the old “8K” box can still be seen at other online retailers, though).

A promise deferred

This packaging change has been a long time coming since the PS5 hasn’t technically been living up to its 8K promise for years now. While Sony’s Mark Cerny mentioned the then-upcoming hardware’s 8K support in a 2019 interview, the system eventually launched with a pretty big “coming soon” caveat for that feature. “PS5 is compatible with 8K displays at launch, and after a future system software update will be able to output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software,” the company said in an FAQ surrounding the console’s 2020 launch.

Well over three years later, that 8K-enabling software update has yet to appear, meaning the console’s technical ability to push 8K graphics is still a practical impossibility for users. Until Sony’s long-promised software patch hits, even PS5 games that render frames internally at a full 8K resolution are still pushing out a downscaled 4K framebuffer through that HDMI 2.1 cable.

Enlarge / A slide from TV manufacturer TCL guesses at some details for the next micro-generation of high-end game consoles.

At this point, though, there’s some reason to expect that the promised patch may never come to the standard PS5. At the moment, the ever-churning rumor mill is expecting an impending mid-generation PS5 Pro upgrade that could offer true, native 8K resolution support right out of the box. If that comes to pass, removing the outdated “8K” promise from the original PS5 packaging could be a subtle way to highlight the additional power of the upcoming “Pro” upgrade.

Enlarge / A slight majority of participants in a double-blind study saw no discernible difference between a 4K and 8K image video clips.

So will console gamers be missing out if they don’t upgrade to an 8K-compatible display? Probably not, as studies show extremely diminishing returns in the perceived quality jump from 4K to 8K visual content for most users and living room setups. Unless you are sitting extremely close to an extremely large display, it’s pretty unlikely you’ll even be able to tell the difference.

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11 years after launch, 49M people still use their PS4s, matching the PS5

gaming, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, ps4, ps5, Sony / Ryan Harris / May 30, 2024

Gone, but not PS4-gotten —

But PS5 users spend more money and gameplay time on their consoles.

Kyle Orland – May 30, 2024 2: 39 pm UTC

Enlarge / After nearly four years of the PS5, a lot of people are still using their old PS4s.

If you’re still getting use out of your aging PS4 after nearly four full years of PS5 availability, new data from Sony shows you are far from alone. The Japanese electronics giant says that both the PS4 and PS5 currently have about 49 million monthly active users, suggesting a significant number of PlayStation players have yet to spend $400 or more to upgrade to the newer console.

The new data comes from an extensive Game & Network Services report presented as part of Sony’s most recent Business Segment Meeting. Those numbers suggest that about 42 percent of the 117 million PS4 units ever sold are still in active use, compared to 86 percent of the 56 million PS5 units sold thus far.

Despite the parity in active consoles, Sony also points out that the PS5 is responsible for significantly more gameplay hours than the PS4: 2.4 billion for the new system compared to 1.4 billion for its predecessor (it’s unclear what time period this comparison covers). Sony’s monthly user numbers also include any console “used to play games or [access] services on the PlayStation Network,” so an old PS4 that serves as a convenient Netflix box in the spare bedroom would still inflate the older system’s numbers here.

Still, it’s pretty impressive that nearly 50 million people are still regularly using a console first launched in 2013 (even considering 2016’s Pro upgrade). That could be in part because the PS4 is still seeing plenty of software support well after the PS5’s release; Sony’s PSN Store listings currently include 189 “just released” PS4-compatible games, including many “best-selling” titles that don’t require a PS5 at all. The fact that those PS4-compatible titles are also playable directly on the PS5 has probably helped convince some publishers to target the older console for their less graphics-intensive games.

Enlarge / PS5 owners are spending less money on full games and a lot more money on “add-on content.”

The PS4’s longevity doesn’t seem to have had a significant negative impact on the PS5’s bottom line, either. Sony’s gaming division has already earned $10 billion in profit off of $106 billion in sales across the nearly four years of the PS5 generation, compared to $9 billion in profit off $107 billion in sales across seven years of the PS4.

PS5 owners have spent an average of $731 each across games, services, peripherals, and add-on content. That’s up significantly from $580 in nominal spending from the average PS4 owner at the same point in that console’s life cycle, though what sounds like a big increase is actually pretty flat when you take inflation into account.

That per-console gaming spending is now concentrated less on “full game” purchases—which are down 12 percent between the PS4 to PS5 generation—and much more on so-called add-on content—which is up 176 percent between generations. We’re guessing that big-spending, loot-box-chasing “whales” have something to do with that increase.

Listing image by Sam Machkovech

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What a potential post-Xbox future could mean for Sony and Nintendo

consoles, gaming, microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 5, Sony, Switch, syndication, xbox, xbox one s / Ari B / March 5, 2024

shifting landscape —

“All signs point to the hardware becoming less and less important to Microsoft.”

Leo Lewis and David Keohane, Financial Times – Mar 5, 2024 2: 33 pm UTC

Microsoft’s decision to ease off its 23-year competition with Sony and Nintendo over supremacy in games hardware has opened a path for Japan’s return as the world’s undisputed home of the console.

The prospect of a new, less internationalized era of console wars has raised hopes of happier times for the Japanese survivors but has also caused analysts and investors to revisit the question of how much longer the whole genre of dedicated games machines will continue to exist.

Microsoft head of gaming Phil Spencer last month revealed plans to release what would previously have been exclusively Xbox games for use on rival platforms, as part of a new focus on cloud-based gaming.

While the US technology giant has said it is still working on a new generation of more powerful consoles, analysts think its long-term direction is clear.

“All signs point to the hardware becoming less and less important to Microsoft, so there is that possibility that we could go back to a point like we were in the 1990s where the viable choices of console were all Japanese,” said Serkan Toto, head of the games consultancy Kantan Games.

Giving up the console fight to concentrate on software could be taken as a huge victory for Japan. To many, the birthplace of Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy, and Pokémon is the spiritual home of the console and has featured the industry’s fiercest “golden age” 1980s and 1990s clashes of Nintendo vs Sega, and later, Nintendo vs Sony.

“It may not happen immediately because the technology of cloud gaming is clearly not ready yet, but from what Microsoft is indicating, there is a possibility that we go back to an all-Japan console industry with Sony and Nintendo each dominating their part of that market in their different, unique ways,” said David Gibson, an analyst at MST Financial.

But the return to a Japan-only industry for dedicated games hardware could more clearly define the console as a commercial cul-de-sac.

That issue, said independent games analyst Pelham Smithers, could be particularly acute for Sony, which last week announced plans to cut 900 staff from its games unit.

“It was tough enough for Sony arguing the need to investors for a PS5—and a lot of people at the time were saying that the PS5 could be the end of the line—but Microsoft’s commitment to console gaming helped,” said Smithers.

Nintendo, meanwhile, faces an issue of timing. Its Switch machine, released in 2017 and now significantly underpowered even when compared with some mobile phones, is to be replaced with a next-generation successor. But the Kyoto-based company has yet to say precisely when and what it will look like.

Analysts said Nintendo is still traumatized by the experience in 2012 when it launched a poorly conceived successor to the global blockbuster Wii console.

Sales of the existing Switch are respectable, said Toto, but more or less everyone who wanted the console has bought one by now. The market, he said, will be waiting for Nintendo’s successor and may hold back on buying games for the Switch ahead of a new machine being released.

Gibson said Sony’s problems are very different: its PS5 machine, now four years old, is popular, but its games business is now guided by “accountants,” rather than people primed to manage a creative business.

Previous generations of the PlayStation had been launched with an expectation that the machine would initially be sold at a loss, before the price of components quickly fell, allowing the company to break even and, in time, allow price cuts for customers.

By its fifth year of release the PS4 had two price cuts totaling $100. The PS5 has had none. “With the accountants in charge, Sony is not prepared to cut prices by $100 to stimulate demand because that would cost $2 billion in profits,” Gibson said.

Microsoft, which has spent huge sums on acquisitions of game studios such as the $75 billion purchase of Activision, is facing similar issues with its hardware economics. Analysts said the US company may have greater motivation than Sony to become an all-platform king.

“The state of the console market right now may not be an advertisement per se for Japan getting its mojo back. It feels more like these three very idiosyncratic businesses are doing well or not for idiosyncratic reasons,” said Robin Zhu, games analyst at Bernstein.

There is a chance that Microsoft’s new direction is a “win, win, win situation,” according to Atul Goyal at Jefferies, because of the different situation each company finds itself in.

Microsoft, he said, could pump up returns by offering its games across different platforms, while Nintendo and Sony would face “less intense competition” and benefit from having a wider choice of titles for customers.

But, as Zhu said, one factor that might keep Microsoft from killing off the Xbox entirely is the same thing that will keep Sony and Nintendo in the market—the fierce loyalty of gamers.

“The concern [Microsoft] will have is that you’ve already convinced your customers to buy the hardware; by telling them that Xbox games will be on every other platform, you risk upsetting your highest engagement and most dogmatic customers,” he said.

What a potential post-Xbox future could mean for Sony and Nintendo Read More »

PlayStation has blocked hardware cheating device Cronus Zen, others may follow

anticheat, Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, cheating, cronus, cronus zen, gaming, microsoft, PlayStation 5, Sony, xbox / Ryan Harris / January 25, 2024

What’s a little anti-recoil between friends? —

No more using a mouse and keyboard on PS5, or using aiming mods, for now.

Kevin Purdy – Jan 25, 2024 7: 25 pm UTC

Ad showing — Enlarge / Who doesn’t want less recoil? Unless, that is, you’re someone competing against the person getting this benefit with a $100 “emulation” device.

Cronus

The Cronus Zen describes itself as a hardware tool for “universal controller compatibility,” letting you plug in a third-party controller, an Xbox controller into a PlayStation, or even your keyboard and mouse into a console. But you can also use its scripting engine to “amplify your game” and set up “GamePacks” to do things like reduce recoil animations in games like Call of Duty. And that is where Cronus seems to have gotten into trouble.

As first noted by the Call of Duty news channel CharlieIntel, the latest update to the PlayStation 5’s system (24.01-08.60.00) software blocks the Cronus from connecting. The update is “NOT mandatory,” Cronus claims in a notice on its website, so Zen players can hold off and keep playing. Still, there is “currently no timetable on a fix … it could be 24 (hours), 24 days, 24 months, we won’t know until we’ve dug into it.” There is, for now, a “Remote Play Workaround” for those already too far updated.

Ars attempted to reach Cronus for comment and reached out to Sony as well and will update this post with any new information.

The Cronus Zen, which costs $100 or more and is available on Amazon and at GameStop, among other outlets, does claim to offer accessibility and third-party compatibility options for players. But what has caught gamers’ attention, and Sony’s, is the wealth of GamePacks available for various games. Some single-player games, like Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk 2077, are represented, but it’s the offerings for Call of Duty, Battlefield, Destiny 2, and other online multiplayer games that likely drew Sony’s ire.

Just a peek at the Apex Legends GamePack page suggests Zen mods “inspired by” the game, with options for “Aim Assist,” “Anti-Recoil Strength,” and “Fire Mods,” the latter of which can make you “harder to hit” and ping teammates when you are firing. Call of Duty: WarZone 3 mods include “Silent Aim. Insanely strong and not visible Aim Assist MOD!” The Zen was also capable of powering other cheat tools with emulated input, like AI-assisted aim assist.

Console manufacturers, already having more locked-down software than PCs, have taken up the cause of eliminating cheating at the hardware level. Microsoft issued a system-level ban on “unauthorized” accessories connecting to Xboxes in October. That had the unintended effect of cooling enthusiasm among fighting game enthusiasts and accessibility advocates. It did not, however, seem to block the Cronus, so long as you attached a compliant controller to it.

Individual game-makers have also attempted to block devices like the Cronus. Activision’s anti-cheat Ricochet tool called out “third-party hardware devices” that “act as a passthrough for controllers” in a blog post about its April 2023 updates. The same went for Ubisoft and Bungie, none of which called out the Cronus Zen in particular, but were signaling efforts to block it and similar devices, like the XIM and ReaSnow S1. Fortnite was ahead of the game, calling out the Cronus Zen and Cronus Max in late 2022.

None of these companies have offered a patch to the behavior of people who want to spend more than $100 and risk lifetime bans to earn undeserved points worth no tradable value.

Listing image by Cronus

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Former Oculus CTO Has Doubts About PSVR 2’s Chance for Success

john carmack, News, PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR 2, ps vr 2, ps vr2, ps5, psvr 2, psvr 2 release, psvr2 / Ryan Harris / February 2, 2023

John Carmack, former CTO of Oculus and key player in the VR startup’s genesis story, says Sony’s upcoming PSVR 2 headset may be see a bumpy road to adoption based on its high price and potential for scattershot geographic distribution.

Carmack seems to really like PSVR 2’s hardware from a technical standpoint, saying that the unique combination of a tethered OLED display and PS5’s ray-tracing performance could hypothetically allow for a novel VR rendering approach with extremely low latency. As a legendary programmer and the former CTO of Oculus, it’s just the sort of thing Carmack thinks about when it comes to virtual reality headsets.

And though he he lauded that unique technical potential, Carmack says he actually doesn’t expect PSVR 2 to be “very successful at $600”:

I don’t expect PSVR2 to be very successful at $600, but technically, with a directly connected OLED display and decent ray tracing performance, it is an opportunity to implement just-in-time ray tracing for couple-millisecond 6DOF motion-to-photons latency, which I would really

— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) January 26, 2023

Releasing on February 22nd, PSVR 2 carries a price tag of $550, which after sales tax puts it somewhere close to $600 out-the-door in most states. That’s a fair jump past Quest 2’s $400/$500 price tag, depending on whether you buy the 128GB or 256GB version.

Former Oculus CTO John Carmack | Photo courtesy Meta

Still, this doesn’t take into account the all-in price to actually play PSVR 2, which at $400 for the PS5 Digital Edition and $500 for Console with disc drive, puts it somewhere north of $1,000 for everything required. But what about Sony’s impressive global reach with PS5?

In a follow-up tweet, Carmack mentions that PS5’s admittedly large global footprint, now tallying 30 million consoles worldwide, isn’t nearly as important as having a higher concentration of devices spanning a smaller geographic area.

“Addressable market size matters much more to developers than global coverage. A 5M market size distributed across every country is much less attractive than a 10M market in a smaller set of countries. In fact, equal sized markets would favor fewer countries — less work.”

Carmack doesn’t appear to be playing favorites either; he similarly critiqued Meta Quest Pro recently for its “dubious price point,” something which has skewed Meta’s latest and greatest away from consumers and positioning the mixed reality headset more as a work productivity device.

Doubts about PSVR 2 seem to be mounting the in few weeks preceding its February launch. Public perception was recently injected with a heavy measure of uncertainty about its pre-order performance. A Bloomberg report earlier this week claimed Sony had slashed production forecasts of PSVR 2 by half to just one million units expected in the first quarter, something Sony has now refuted.

Looking to learn all about PSVR 2 before it launches this month? Check out our top articles covering games, hardware previews and more:

Former Oculus CTO Has Doubts About PSVR 2’s Chance for Success Read More »

Update: Sony Refutes Report That It Cut PSVR 2 Production Forecast

News, PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR 2, playstationvr 2, ps vr 2, ps vr2, psvr, psvr 2, psvr2 / Ryan Harris / January 31, 2023

Following a Bloomberg report which claimed Sony had cut its production forecast for PSVR 2, the company flatly refuted the claim.

Update (January 31st, 2023 – 12: 51PM PT): Sony refuted a Bloomberg report earlier today that claimed the company had cut its production forecast for PSVR 2 in lieu of lower than expected pre-orders. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the company said it has “not cut PlayStation VR2 production numbers,” and further claimed it is “seeing enthusiasm from PlayStation fans for the upcoming launch, which includes more than 30 titles such as Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and Resident Evil Village.”

The original article, detailing the Bloomberg report, continues below.

Original Article (January 31st, 2023 – 5: 31AM PT): Slated to launch on February 22nd, Sony was expected to produce an initial run of two million PSVR 2 headsets, however a recent Bloomberg report maintains the company has reduced those forecasts to just one million in the first quarter.

Citing people familiar with deliberations, Sony reportedly told a supply partner to expect reduced display panel orders, allegedly stating that it only expects to sell 1.5 million units between April 2023 and March 2024.

Only Aiming to Meet PSVR (2016) Unit Sales?

To put it into perspective, the original PSVR for PS4 sold two million units after about 14 months on store shelves. At the time of PSVR’s launch in October 2016, over 70 million PS4s were in the wild, making for a pretty large potential install base.

Out of the gate, PS5 unit sales were largely held back by the global manufacturing cooldown starting in 2020, so many of those console sales are probably fairly recent. At CES 2023 earlier this month, Sony said it has sold 30 million PS5 consoles to date, noting at the time that December 2022 was the biggest month ever for PS5 console sales.

Here’s a chart of PSVR unit sales spanning launch up to 2020, showing an early bump to one million sales, and a slower protracted growth period to five million units over the course of three years.

Although less than half as many PS5 consoles are in the wild in comparison to PS4, the VR landscape has changed a great deal over the years. Market leader Meta hasn’t released Quest 2 sales figures, however analysts suggest Meta has shipped somewhere between 10 and 15 million Quest 2 units since launch in late 2020, meaning potential interest in VR is at an all-time high.

Provided the reports are true, Sony is only hoping to essentially match its original sales figures of PSVR over the next 14 months, which may signal it has markedly lower expectations for its next-gen VR headset overall. But why? In the end, it probably comes down to the all-in price of PSVR 2 and the lack of strong anchor titles to convert PS5 owners.

At its cheapest, PS5 costs $500, while PSVR 2 (and included controllers) costs $550, putting the all-in price of just the hardware at $1,050. This is undoubtedly a barrier to entry for newcomers, especially since the company’s best PS5 sales period was just a month ago. Brand new PS5 owners may not be able to rationalize another large gaming expense, especially in face of a worsening economic recession.

Then there are launch titles, many of which are remastered versions of extant Quest and PC VR games. Of the 30+ PSVR 2 launch day games announced by Sony, there are really only a handful of standout anchor titles: Horizon Call of the Mountain, Gran Turismo 7, and Resident Evil Village—the last two are flatscreen games getting VR compatibly support at PSVR 2’s February 22nd launch.

Notably missing is the slew of innovative first-party, ground-up VR games like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Blood & Truth, as well as taster packs like PSVR Worlds. The lack of heavy investment in exclusive content out of the gate may signal Sony is again forecasting long term growth similar to the original PSVR, casting it more as an optional accessory than a must-have expansion of its console gaming experience.

Granted, Sony has to think more in the long-term for its VR headsets than, say, standalone manufacturers like Meta, HTC, and Pico Interactive. Sony likely doesn’t expect to ship a prospective PlayStation 6 until 2028, recent reports contend, which means this is possibly the only PlayStation-compatible VR headset we’ll see for quite some time.

For now, at least, PSVR 2 represents class-leading hardware, but it will only be able to attract and retain users in the long-term with an increased focus on exclusive content, better bundling strategies, and a PS5 install base that will hopefully continue its path towards strong growth like we’ve seen in the recent months.

Update: Sony Refutes Report That It Cut PSVR 2 Production Forecast Read More »

PSVR 2 Launch Day Games Revealed, 30+ Titles Including ‘Horizon’, ‘Resident Evil Village’ & ‘Gran Turismo 7’

News, PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR 2, playstation vr 2 launch games, psvr 2, psvr 2 launch, psvr 2 launch day games, psvr 2 launch games / Ryan Harris / January 19, 2023

PlayStation has finally revealed its launch day (or rather “launch window”) titles for PSVR 2. Notable highlights include Demeo, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and Resident Evil Village, although there’s no word on when VR’s favorite block-slashing game is making the move to Sony’s next-gen VR headset.

First, here’s the list of guaranteed launch day games coming on February 22nd, 2023. Sgames are re-releasing completely, providing a paid pathway for upgrades, or coming as a free upgrade to players who already own the title for the original PSVR. We’ve put that info in bold for easier reading:

After the Fall (Vertigo Games)
Altair Breaker (Thirdverse)
Cities VR (Fast Travel Games)
Cosmonious High (Owlchemy)
Demeo (Resolution Games)
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate (MyDearest Inc., Perp Games)
Fantavision 202X (Cosmo Machia, Inc.)
Gran Turismo 7 (via free update to PS5 version of GT7)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Firesprite, Guerrilla)
Job Simulator (Owlchemy)
Jurassic World Aftermath (Coatsink)
Kayak VR: Mirage (Better Than Life)
Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat! (Gemdrops, Inc.)
The Last Clockwinder (Pontoco/Cyan Worlds)
The Light Brigade (Funktronic Labs, purchase includes PS VR and PS VR2 versions)
Moss 1 & 2 Remaster (Polyarc)
NFL Pro Era (StatusPro, Inc., free PS VR2 upgrade)
Pavlov VR (Vankrupt)
Pistol Whip (Cloudhead, free upgrade)
Puzzling Places (Realities.io, free upgrade)
Resident Evil Village (Capcom, via free update to PS5 version of RE Village)
Rez Infinite (Enhance)
Song in the Smoke (17 Bit)
STAR WARS: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge (ILMxLab)
Synth Riders (Kluge Interactive, free upgrade)
The Tale of Onogoro (Amata K.K)
Tentacular (Devolver)
Tetris Effect: Connected (Enhance)
Thumper (Drool LLC)
Vacation Simulator (Owlchemy)
What the Bat! (Triband)
Zenith: The Last City (Ramen VR, free upgrade)

There are also a handful of “launch window” games announced, which are said to arrive “through March”:

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners: Ch. 2: Retribution (Skydance)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition (Survios)
The Dark Pictures: Switchback (Supermassive)
Before Your Eyes (Skybound Interactive)

Curiously missing from the list is the promised Beat Saber, which again ranked as the top-downloaded game on PSVR this past year. PlayStation says in its big blogpost info dump that more games will be confirm their launch window availability up until February 22nd, so we’ll be updating this piece to reflect all of the launch content coming to PSVR 2.

PSVR 2 Launch Day Games Revealed, 30+ Titles Including ‘Horizon’, ‘Resident Evil Village’ & ‘Gran Turismo 7’ Read More »

PSVR’s Top Downloads in 2022 Betray Stagnation, PSVR 2 Looks to Change That

PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR 2, psvr 2, psvr 2 games, psvr top downloads 2022, psvr top games, psvr top games 2022, VR Game / Ryan Harris / January 18, 2023

It’s more than a bit disheartening to see essentially the same top PSVR game downloads repeated throughout the years, although here’s to hoping this may be the last time we utter the names Beat Saber, Job Simulator, and SUPERHOT VR in sequential order as the upcoming platform’s best-performing titles.

The original PSVR has earned a well-deserved rest after more than six years of faithful service, no doubt. But on February 22nd, the company’s next-gen headset PSVR 2 is coming to town, which has the potential to shake things up a fair bit as the PlayStation begins charting titles created for its latest and greatest VR headset.

I’m hoping to consider this a bid farewell to the same ol’ top download chart, which seems to have stayed fairly stagnant for the past couple of years. Before we go further though, here’s the top PSVR downloads in 2022:

PSVR Top Downloads – 2022

	US/Canada	EU
1	Beat Saber	Beat Saber
2	Job Simulator	Job Simulator
3	SUPERHOT VR	SUPERHOT VR
4	Creed: Rise to Glory	Creed: Rise to Glory
5	Swordsman VR	Sniper Elite VR
6	Astro Bot Rescue Mission	Swordsman VR
7	Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality	Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
8	GORN	Batman: Arkham VR
9	Batman: Arkham VR	Arizona Sunshine
10	The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners	Astro Bot Rescue Mission

Notice anything familiar? With the exception of Sniper Elite VR, which actually released in 2021 (but critically didn’t rank among the top downloads that year), it’s nearly identical to the chart from 2021. Pretty much par for the course for the platform’s aging game library, it seems.

PSVR 2: Shifting to a More Experienced VR Gamer?

Notably, PSVR 2 doesn’t feature backwards compatibility, although many games on the chart above are either re-releasing on PSVR 2 or getting a free upgrade, so we’ll very likely see many of these titles persist in the charts for months to come.

Sony has also publicly announced a handful of PSVR 2 titles which may be strong contenders for the top spots in the coming months and years. Popular games and franchises include Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Village, Horizon Call of the Mountain, Demeo, Crossfire: Sierra Squad, Firewall Ultra, Among Us VR, 2MD: VR Football Unleashed All-Star, and Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue just to name a few. We’re still waiting on an official list of launch day titles and a more concise understanding of what’s getting an upgrade, and what isn’t.

Granted, I said I’m hoping to consider this a bid farewell to the seemingly iron clad chart rankings, although there’s a good reason those top games performed so well on PSVR. The top three—Beat Saber, Job Simulator, and SUPERHOT VR—undoubtedly make for excellent first-time VR experiences for basically anyone. After all, PSVR was likely the first VR headset for many who already own a PS4, so a continued focus on casual VR content makes sense.

Note: Beat Saber has been confirmed for a PSVR 2 rerelease (possibly free upgrade, but Meta hasn’t said yet), while Job Simulator and SUPERHOT VR are still unconfirmed for PSVR 2.

It remains to be seen whether the ‘newcomers at the top’ paradigm plays out the same way with PSVR 2 though in the months and years to come. Many of the top games on PS5 appeal to a more mature gaming audience (in gaming ability, not age), which is reflected in the top 2022 downloads there: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, God of War Ragnarök, and ELDEN RING.

A better analogue though for PSVR 2 may be Quest 2’s performance over the years, owing to its spot as essentially the largest VR platform for consumers. Many of the top titles on the monthly Quest charts present a better mix of casual drop-in titles and more lengthy adventures such as BONELAB, Moss: Book II, and The Room VR: A Dark Matter, which may mean the PSVR 2 chart may look very different indeed.

Still, for PSVR 2 to follow the same path, there needs to be an extensive mix of premium quality content for newcomers in addition to the top games repeated from the days of yore. Players will be looking for fresh casual content like Astro Bot Rescue Mission, PlayStation VR Worlds, and Creed: Rise to Glory—the sort of games you can plop family and friends into that they immediately understand and can play—in addition to needing a steady stream of ‘AAA’ level titles like Resident Evil Village and Horizon Call of the Mountain, two of the largest standouts PSVR 2 users will probably look to for the sort of graphical quality they’re used to on flatscreen.

In the end, it’s hard to say how things will shake out. Sony appears to be playing its PSVR 2 hype strategy more or less in the same way it did with PS5, i.e. not many exclusives and a softer launch than expected. That could have to do with the fact that the all-in price for a PS5 and PSVR 2 headset is around $1,100, which not only limits the number of prospective game sales by a fair bit, but could mean less first-party investment overall if the install base isn’t large enough. Whatever the case, we’re hoping to hear more about games and get a better understanding of launch day titles over the coming month leading up to its February 22nd launch.

What’s your opinion? Will future PSVR 2 charts look the same, be dominated by new casual content, or will we see more mature titles break in? Let us know in the comments below!

PSVR’s Top Downloads in 2022 Betray Stagnation, PSVR 2 Looks to Change That Read More »

PSVR 2 Unlikely to Ever Work on PC, Says Creator Behind PSVR 1 Compatibility Driver

News, PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR 2, ps vr 2, psvr 2, psvr steam compatibility, psvr2 / Mike M. / January 16, 2023

No more ungainly break-out boxes to contend with; thankfully PSVR 2 connects to PlayStation 5 via a single USB-C cable. But if you think you’ll be able to plug in that seemingly standard cable to a VR-ready PC to play Half-Life: Alyx like you might with standalones such as Quest 2, Vive XR Elite or Pico 4, you’ll be sorely disappointed. PSVR 2 won’t work as a PC VR headset, and according to the developer behind unofficial conversion software iVRy Driver, you shouldn’t buy one with the anticipation that it ever will.

Plug in an original PSVR into a computer, and the PC thinks it’s an additional monitor. That was the starting point back in late 2016 for many to begin cobbling together unofficial support for PC VR games. One such go-to staple for PSVR-to-PC conversion is iVRy Driver for SteamVR, an ongoing project created by indie studio Mediator Software.

But what about PSVR 2? In a Reddit thread discussing the topic, Mediator Software says you should save your cash if you want to buy a PSVR 2 specifically for PC VR gaming:

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How to See Your PlayStation 2022 Wrap-Up

gaming, Gaming Culture, Highlights, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 / Ryan Harris / December 18, 2022

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8 Things You Might Not Know About Your PS5’s DualSense Controller

Game Controller, gaming, Gaming Tips, Highlights, PlayStation 5, Sony / Mike M. / December 12, 2022

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Here’s Every Game Announced for PSVR 2

alvo, among us vr, demeo, Feature, firewall ultra, firmament, ghostbusters vr, horizon call of the mountain, low-fi, News, no mans sky, PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR 2, ps vr 2, ps vr2, psvr 2, psvr 2 games, PSVR Game, psvr2 games, Requisition VR, resident evil 4, Resident Evil Village, samurai slaughter house, star wars tales from the galaxy's edge, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 2, VR Game / Ryan Harris / December 2, 2022

Sony has revealed the price and launch date for PSVR 2, although it still hasn’t tossed out a launch day lineup for PSVR 2. We’re adding more games to out running list though the closer we move to the February 22nd launch of PSVR 2.

Here’s a look at what we hope will be a quickly growing list of all games announced for PSVR 2 thus far. Also, don’t forget to check out our detailed hands-on with PSVR 2 hardware to see what sets it apart from the original.

There is no list of launch-day games yet. In our list, we take a look at the games officially mentioned by Sony, followed by the rapidly growing number of studios committing to support PSVR 2 at some point.

Horizon Call of the Mountain

Horizon Call of the Mountain isn’t a log flume ride or hollow VR “experience” like the trailer might suggest. Nay, developed by Sony’s first-party Guerrilla Games and Firesprite Studios, the first VR take on the Horizon universe is going to be an honest to goodness story campaign the devs say will take around seven hours to complete, along with some “additional content” included in the game.

Check out our hands-on here.

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge is an action-adventure experience where you’ll take on the role of a droid repair technician operating near the Outer Rim. First introduced on Meta Quest in 2020, this will be the first time this run-and-gun, Star Wars-flavored adventure will be available outside of the Meta ecosystem.

Check out our spoiler-free review here

Resident Evil Village

Capcom is bringing Resident Evil Village to PSVR 2, and it says the game will provide “an even deeper immersive experience by taking full advantage of the vivid graphics possible with the headset’s 4K HDR display, PlayStation VR2’s eye tracking, PS5’s 3D Audio and more.” Lady Dimitrescu awaits!

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 is already available on Quest 2, although this particular version is a classic zombie shooter of another stripe. The game coming to PSVR 2 is actually the remake, so we’re getting all new everything this time around and not just uprezzed textures. We’re hoping the VR support is as good as the Quest 2 version, and decidedly better than RE7 Biohazard, which wasn’t bad, but it is showing its age since it was released in 2017.

Demeo

Created by VR veteran Resolution Games, Demeo is a VR take on a tabletop RPG dungeon crawler. It has fared remarkably well on Quest 2 and PC VR headsets since release in 2021, which is in part thanks to its basement-themed, D&D-style action that lets you unite with friends for a tactical gaming night from afar.

Check out our review here

No Man’s Sky

The redemption story continues, as Hello Games vows to bring its space exploration simulator to PSVR 2, including all of the successive patches and DLC drops that took it from procedurally generated empty shell to a universe truly brimming with possibilities.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 2

This is a full-fat sequel to VR’s most popular games as of late, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. Like the first in the series, you’ll scrounge around a post-apocalyptic New Orleans that’s not only brimming with the undead, but also rival gangs that you can choose to join or battle. Physics-based combat, low ammo supplies, and a very touchy stamina system means you’ll need to think long and hard before running into that crowd of walkers.

Firewall Ultra

It’s not clear how much “new” content we’re getting right out of the bat with First Contact’s next Firewall game, which like the original promises tactical squad-based shooting action across a host of maps, although Firewall Ultra is decidedly the future of the franchise. We can expect to see legacy maps, characters and weapons, but also updates for more of everything down the line.

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR

Supermassive Games just revealed The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, or what it calls a “fast-paced roller coaster action-horror-shooter where every move you make, and everything you see, could mean the difference between life and death.” Set inside the sinister world of The Dark Pictures Anthology, Switchback VR makes good use of headset eye-tracking: some enemies only move when you blink (Visine not included).

Crossfire: Sierra Squad

Smilegate tossed out a trailer to a brand-new VR game called Crossfire: Sierra Squad, a first-person shooter in the Crossfire universe. The game is played either solo or in co-op mode with up to 4 players on a team as you battle against AI baddies. The studio says there are 39 types of weapons including pistols, rifles, throwable – and throw back-able – grenades and sniper rifles with revolutionary scope mechanics give you plenty of options to dispatch 17 types of enemies.

The Light Brigade

Funktronic Labs showed off a new single-player roguelike game called The Light Brigade which it says is “filled with immersive gunplay and moody mystery.” Uncover the mystery of the gloomy ‘Sunken World’ as you climb the ranks of the titular Light Brigade, unlock firearms and unique spells. The Light Brigade will be available for pre-order starting November 15th.

Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue

tinyBuild Games and Steel Wool Studios (Five Nights at Freddy’s) announced a VR take on viral indie hit Hello Neighbor, which is coming to both PSVR and PSVR 2 with cross-buy. “Mr. Peterson’s creepy house takes on a new level of immersion in VR, and there is nothing quite as scary as actually seeing that familiar shadow tower over you just before everything goes black,” tinyBuild says. Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue will be available for pre-order starting November 15th.

Pistol Whip VR

Cloudhead Games is bringing a free PSVR 2 upgrade to the PSVR version of its award-winning physical action-rhythm game where thrilling gunplay and dynamic tracks collide, creating a dreamscape world for players to blast, duck, and dodge their way through to become the ultimate action hero.

Cities VR – Enhanced Edition

With its intial launch on Quest earlier this year, Fast Travel Games managed to bring Cities: Skylines to VR, albeit in a slightly smaller package to run on VR hardware. Smaller, as in the size of your city: you’re actually a Godzilla-sized goliath towering over your little town as you manage all of its buildings and keep up with city planning.

Cosmonious High

Owlchemy Labs is known for highly interactive, super approachable VR games, such as award-winning titles Job Simulator and its sequel Vacation Simulator. This one went live a few months ago on Quest and PC VR headsets, and we can’t wait to see PSVR 2’s eye-tracking bring our avatars to life.

Zenith: The Last City

From Ramen VR comes the PSVR 2 version of its Kickstarter success story, the MMORPG know as Zenith: The Last City. Promised to be a day-one launch title, there are hundreds of hours of content to chew through in this well-realized VR native.

Tentacular

Initially launched on Quest and PC VR, Firepunchd Games is bringing its wild adventure where you, a gigantic but good-hearted tentacled beast, is trying to figure out your place in the world. Help your human friends to research a strange and incredibly powerful energy source. Make progress by solving a colossal mix of action-based activities and physical constructions puzzles which unlock elements for your very own playground.

After The Fall

Launched on PC VR, Quest and the original PSVR, Vertigo Games is bringing an enhanced version of the co-op zombie shooter to PSVR 2. If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s essentially Left4Dead, but in VR, letting you sweep through levels with friends and strangers as you mow down massive hordes of zombioid baddies. Upgrade your stuff, come back for more.

Jurassic World Aftermath Collection

Coatsink originally brought this two-part psychological dino-thriller to Quest, making for a heart-pounding game of cat-and-mouse with a gaggle of Raptor baddies. Use your eyes and ears to alert you to impending doom, and hide from certain death if you can, Make sure to check out our spoiler-free review of both part 1 and 2 on Quest to see what’s in store.

Altair Breaker

Initially released on Steam and PSVR, Altair Breker is a map-based sword fighting game from the makers of Swords of Gargantua, Thirdverse. You can team up with three other friends or go it alone as you for an adventure that the studio says its for “players who want to experience stylish sword-fighting action and feel like the hero in an anime world.”

XR

Thirdverse is also developing a multiplayer shooter called X8, which is set to launch on PSVR 2 in addition to PC VR and Quest 2. Developed by Thirdverse’s US-based studio, the 5v5 hero shooter is slated to arrive on those other platforms sometime this winter before rolling out to PSVR 2 at some point.

Other Games Announced for PSVR 2

2MD: VR Football Unleashed All-Star – Truant Pixel
Affected: The Asylum – Fallen Planet Studios
Aliens VR – Survios
Alvo – Mardonpol
Afterlife VR – Split Light Studio
Among Us VR – Schell Games and Innersloth
Black Top Hoops – Vinci Games
Black Trail – Red Horizon
Distortion VR – Future Mental Games
Do Not Open – Nox Noctis
Dropship Commander – Strange Games Studios
Engram – Maze Theory
Firmament – Cyan Worlds
The Exorcist Legion VR: Sin – Pocket Money Games
Galaxy Karts – VR Monkey
Ghostbusters VR – nDreams, Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR)
Ghosts of Tabot of Tabor – Combat Waffle
Golf+ – Golfscope Inc
Green Hell VR – Incuvo
Grimlord – MetalCat Interactive Technology
Hellsplit Arena – DeepType Games
Hubris – Cyborn
Hypestacks – Squirrel Bytes
Kayak VR: Mirage – Better Than Life
The Last Worker – Wired Productions
LONN – SixSense Studios
LOW FI – Iris VR
Madison – Bloodious Games
Medieval Dynasty – RenderCube
Mixture – Played With Fire
Neolithic Dawn – James Bellian
Pavlov – Vankrupt Games
Project Lousianna: The Bounds VR – Build the Light Studio
Propagation Paradise Hotel – Wannadev Studio
Requisition – Arcadia VR
Runner – Truan Pixel
Samurai Slaughter House – Tab Games
Shadowgate VR: The Mines of Mythrok – Zojoi LLC. and Azure Drop Studios
Soul of Kaeru – BrainUp
Stranger Things: The VR Experience – Tender Claws
Super Kit: To the Top – Electric Hat Games
Tin Hearts – Rogue Sun
The Twilight Zone VR – Pocket Money Games
Ultrawings 2 – BitPlanet Games
Volcanic Core – Synthesis Universe
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 1 – Skydance Interactive
Wandering in Space – Moonseer Games

Unannounced PSVR 2 Games

Archiact sci-fi game
Firesprite horror game
Vitruvius VR sci-fi game

Update (November 28th, 2022): Eurogamer’s Ian Highton has mentioned a few more titles coming in a video breakdown that has filled in some gaps in our list. We’ve added X8 and Altair Breaker to the official Sony-sanctioned list, and a handful of others in the studio-announced titles listed above.

Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below so we can include it in our list!

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