Sony announces PS5 PSVR headset & controller is coming, but not in 2021

Sony has dropped new details for its PlayStation 5 VR system.

21

One of the looming questions surrounding the PS5’s launch was if and how Sony would support PSVR on the next-gen console. With PSVR being a financial and commercial success on the PS4, it felt inevitable that the system would get a proper next-gen upgrade. We’ve now got some official word, as Sony has announced a new PSVR system for PS5 is in development.

A post was made to PlayStation Blog on February 23 by Senior Vice President Hideaki Nishino announcing the new PSVR system. “Today I’m pleased to share that our next-generation VR system will be coming to PlayStation 5, enabling the ultimate entertainment experience with dramatic leaps in performance and interactivity. Players will feel an even greater sense of presence and become even more immersed in their game worlds once they put on the new headset,” the post reads.

Sony touts that the new PSVR system will feature better resolution, field of view, tracking, and input. What’s more, the new headset will only use a single cord to connect to the PS5 console, offering a much cleaner setup than its predecessor. Sony shares that the new PSVR controller will “incorporate some of the key features found in the DualSense wireless controller.” There will also be a strong emphasis on ergonomics in the controller’s design.

In the post, Sony states that the new PSVR system is still in early development, and will not be launching in 2021. Sony doesn’t commit to a release window, outside of confirming it won’t release this calendar year. The company also confirms that brand new PSVR titles are currently in development. It will likely be a bit of a wait before we get a proper look at the new PS5 PSVR, but when we do, you’ll be able to read about it right here on Shacknews.

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 23, 2021 7:40 AM

    Donovan Erskine posted a new article, Sony announces PS5 PSVR headset & controller is coming, but not in 2021

    • reply
      February 23, 2021 6:31 AM

      Sony has confirmed new PlayStation VR hardware is coming for the PS5, just not in 2021.

      https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/23/22296998/sony-ps5-next-gen-vr-headset-virtual-reality-features

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 6:45 AM

        I thought PSVR was really cool, I am glad to see they are staying engaged to it.

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 6:56 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 6:57 AM

          That last sentence excites me

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 7:09 AM

          Dual sense haptics and adaptive triggers, so exited.

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 7:10 AM

          You had me at Rez

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 8:41 AM

          Does it really need finger tracking though? people are playing alyx on quest 2 fine

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 8:42 AM

            I can’t wait to see the applications using finger tracking. It will be insane.

            • reply
              February 23, 2021 8:45 AM

              Maybe they are aiming for 299 dollars this time, I think it will help with adoption, but let's see

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 9:24 AM

            Quest 2 does have capacitive sensors to know where your fingers are and what they're touching, like all Oculus Touch controllers.

            It's not full tracking in the sense of having a skeletal model, but it's enough to understand the difference between grasping and pointing, etc.

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 8:54 AM

          I was really hoping it would be wireless.

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 9:22 AM

            Me too considering quest 2 does it and it's not crazy expensive

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 10:09 AM

            [deleted]

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 12:08 PM

            Honestly all headsets should at least have the option going forward.

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 7:06 AM

        Awesome -- I skipped it on PS4, but might get the PS5 version. :)

    • reply
      February 23, 2021 7:43 AM

      This is great news. Sony pumped a lot of money into VR development last generation. The news from Jim Ryan that they will be releasing more PlayStation games on PC potentially makes this news even better for VR.

    • reply
      February 23, 2021 8:18 AM

      Curious why this took so long to announce. Seems like it should have been part of the launch. I guess they knew the software wasn't far enough along so they decided to spread it out to extend the hype. But, missing the 2021 holiday? I guess it's probably pandemic and supply strain related.

    • reply
      February 23, 2021 8:44 AM

      Time to sell my first gen and cross my fingers on getting a hold of the new hotness.

    • reply
      February 23, 2021 10:07 AM

      How is Microsoft still behind on this?

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 11:23 AM

        Yeah, especially with Flight Sim and them owning several VR experienced studios.

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 1:03 PM

          And working to put out generations of windows mixed reality stuff. Do those groups ever think “hey we should get lunch have a teams chat with the Xbox folks?” Or nah.

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 12:11 PM

        "Don't you guys have Kinect?"

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 12:25 PM

        How are they behind Nintendo and Sony on their gamepad? How is the only thing going for the Xbox their services?

        They’re extremely conservative when it comes to hardware. They’ve done a good job with performance and noise on the Xbox Series but anything mildly forward looking like VR or controller gyros is something they avoid? Perhaps they think they’re already taking on too much trying to upright the boat as it is?

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 12:26 PM

          Their failure with Kinect has clearly killed anything like VR for the time being

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 1:05 PM

            Yeah this I can buy to an extent but even supporting byo headsets like the Samsung odyssey seems like a measured half-step to keep from falling too far behind.

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 12:32 PM

        Microsoft was late to the internet, MP3 players, modern smartphones... this is the least shocking development on its part!

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 1:00 PM

        They went hard into AR instead of VR and that missed. At least, that's my take based on no research

        • reply
          February 23, 2021 1:03 PM

          It didn’t miss at all, it’s an enterprise-only thing and they are successful there.

          • reply
            February 23, 2021 1:05 PM

            In the context of games, they did attempt to get a foothold with AR, it wasn't enterprise-only at that point.

            • reply
              February 23, 2021 1:10 PM

              With what, the Minecraft thing on a phone? That was more PoC than anything, they have made next to no serious effort at all to bring the same features to Hololens and sell it. Again, because it’s an enterprise-only device.

              • reply
                February 23, 2021 1:33 PM

                they announced at some E3s ago, are listed as a platform on steam (under mixed reality which is HoloLens + other companies). There was a genuine attempt at making it a gaming peripheral. It has found success in enterprise but the push in gaming didn't work out. That's the route they chose instead of hard VR and why they're behind the competition.
                I'll die on many hills for MSFT but that's not one of them.

                • reply
                  February 23, 2021 1:41 PM

                  There has never been a serious attempt at a consumer version of the Hololens, the thing costs $3k ffs.

                  Windows Mixed Reality has been a platform on Steam for ages but that has only ever been VR-only, nothing to do with the Hololens.

                  Everything AR related you have might have seen on Steam were Valve efforts and they gave up on that ages ago to fully focus on VR and create Steam VR, lighthouse tracking and the Vive with HTC (and the Index on their own later on).

                  A genuine attempt is either putting consumer AR hardware or software on sale and they haven’t done either of those. Not even that Minecraft AR thing on the phone, it never left beta.

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 1:40 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 5:49 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        February 23, 2021 6:26 PM

        Couldn't Microsoft just allow any of the WMR headsets?

Hello, Meet Lola