With PlayStation VR2 having just launched, hopes are naturally high that the technology can finally gain wider acceptance in the mass market. Content will be crucial, but Sony itself seems only cautiously optimistic about this aspect.
It seems Sony is trying to shift the main burden onto experienced third-party studios instead of delivering compelling content themselves, which would be all the more important. This also aligns with the current perception that Sony hasn't announced any further games for PS VR2.
Im Gamesindustry Interview With Sony's Head of Third-Party Portfolio and Acquisitions, Shawne Benson, it becomes clear that they are increasingly relying on external studios specializing in VR, including Vertigo, nDreams, Polyarc, etc. Here, they are counting on a strong community of VR developers who are expected to support VR.
“During the original PS VR launch window, we were still trying to sell the promise of why one should develop for VR,” said Benson. “Now we have this community of much more experienced developers—teams like Polyarc, NDreams, and so on—who have dedicated themselves to the VR space. I think both sides—Meta and PlayStation—have invested heavily in these studios and can still tell that story from a technological point of view because there’s still a huge belief in the experience.”
Keeping PlayStation VR2 alive
Furthermore, they stated their desire to see this developer community grow and keep it alive, and offered all possible support to achieve this.
"It's about how we can best support them in bringing this content to PSVR2, and that can range from development funding support to marketing support, as many of these studios don't necessarily have the same kind of marketing infrastructure as larger publishers."
It's possible that Benson is only speaking from his perspective regarding third-party developers. However, that still doesn't answer the question: what is Sony itself doing to ensure the success of PlayStation VR2?
According to current assessments, the situation here still looks quite uncertain, after discussions with Horizon call of the mountain He's only delivered one title himself and hasn't announced anything else. That's not exactly reassuring, as our first experiences with PS VR2 detected.
Every nail in Ryan's coffin is a good one. Absolutely nothing has been done since Microsoft decided to buy Apple. PC releases have become more expensive, games have declined in quality (GoW) or become LGBTQ+-oriented. Other games that would justify buying a PS5 are still pending, etc., etc. PlayStation needs a Japanese hardliner now more than ever, because under Ryan and Hulst, PS has lost all its roots.
So, I'm relieved. More than that, I'm optimistic. There's currently a wide selection of VR2 games, the year is still young, and VR2 has only just launched. I and many other users here understand why there's so much hype. Why don't you just change your name and stop wasting your energy on negative articles? Of course, something needs to happen in the medium and long term. High-quality games need to be released. But right now, we're very well served; every genre is represented. There's a really wide selection, which isn't a given at launch. Time will tell whether the investment by Sony and other manufacturers has paid off, but everything carries a risk. It's fantastic that VR2 has opened a huge door to making VR accessible to a wider audience.
Playfront manages to give every positive article about PSVR2 a negative spin and come up with a sensationalist headline.
The Bild newspaper of gaming news pages
I believe PlayFront would have a much harder time if Sony had announced at least one game in development.
You probably mean a specific game from a first-party studio, because promising games for PSVR2 have already been announced in general.
There's little to criticize about the launch lineup, to be honest. We probably won't find out what Sony Studios has in store until the announced showcase this summer. So, about 3-4 months, or in Playfront time: 12 sensationalist, clickbait PSVR2 articles!
That's exactly the point. Imagine Nintendo launches a new console, maybe releases a Yoshi game, and otherwise only refers to third-party titles.
I also believe (hope) that Sony is developing for the PSVR2, but as a customer, one would feel more secure if there were a clear commitment.
I'm pretty sure there will be a new Astro Bot and possibly VR games from Naughty Dog and others. But that doesn't automatically mean these games are better than third-party VR games. I'm currently having more fun with Song of the Smoke or Pavlov than with Horizon.
That's all subjective, but it simply means that one would expect more direct support for the platform from the manufacturer.
In addition to Horizon VR, Sony, unlike with the first PSVR and GT Sport, has given GT7 a full VR mode, and the Capcom Resident Evil Village VR release exclusively for the PSVR2 can also be seen as a sign that Sony considers VR important. The initial launch has been made, and now I would simply wait for the next big showcase before assuming the worst.
Everything is pretty open at the moment; you could say it's 50/50. Sony has already stated its clear intention to support indie developers who bring innovation to VR, from which less experienced AAA developers can benefit. However, this also means that many smaller games will be released, as we saw at the last State of Play. The current lineup looks good, so we'll see.
It's a shame Sony didn't manage to release a diorama/platformer like Astrobot at launch. Many were waiting for that, and Horizon isn't for everyone. I hope Astrobot will be in the store by Christmas at the latest; it would be perfect for families. Horror games like RE8, RE4, or Switchback are very polarizing.
But these titles are definitely what you'd call AAA production quality: extensive, graphically polished, simply impressive in VR. You only get "Wow!" from people, who say it's something really special, something they're buying such an expensive device for.
My hope is that we'll see more ports of existing flat games, for which Sony will release the best VR versions. This has already happened with RE8 and GT7, and it will likely happen with RE4. In my view, the success of the PSVR2 hinges on this: familiar brands reimagined in VR that people are eager to experience anew – getting behind the wheel of dream cars, getting spooked in haunted houses, playing Super Mario in VR, sneaking into secret research bases, exciting military missions (Crossfire Sierra Squad) – everything that flat games have offered for decades, great campaigns, exciting, expansive stories, finally in VR and, above all, uncompromising (free locomotion, no vignette option, the entire game).
With PSVR1, we had many experiments, demos, minigames, and some larger games, but they were still technically too weak for many. Optimizing VR for a PS5 is certainly a challenge, but we can already see what's possible.
What do you mean by "hate speech"? Sony is actually doing very little to address legitimate concerns. Just because someone mentions it doesn't make it hate speech.
The "hate speech" lies in the interpretation of the statements. Sony wants to support VR professionals, and this is then misrepresented as "keeping VR alive"!
I don't understand why it's so bad to let other professionals do something properly (Pavlov, for example) instead of throwing out something that might be half-baked yourself!?
As Zilli already wrote… 12 clickbait articles later!
Journalism should be reporting, not opinion-making! But you're right... "Form your own opinion!"
Generally, personal opinions/assessments are published here. They are completely meaningless and certainly not neutral!