The news regarding PlayStation VR 2 is concerning. Reports suggest that sales of Sony’s virtual reality headset have been disappointing, with internal sources revealing that the product’s end-of-life has already been decided. This information was provided by Android Central journalist Nicholas Sutrich, who claims to have received this insight from a reliable source. Moreover, it appears that Sony is significantly cutting funding for PSVR 2. The situation is further highlighted by only two games being in internal development from Sony’s productions, indicating an impending phase-out of the hardware. According to Android Central’s analysis, official data from the Japanese manufacturer suggests that Sony has shifted its strategic focus away from virtual reality. Additionally, Sony has shut down two of its dedicated VR studios: First Contact and London Studio.
Further evidence suggesting Sony’s apparent disinterest in VR is the game Astro Bot, which was unveiled during a State of Play and was playable hands-on for press at the Summer Games Fest. It is not even compatible with the PSVR 2 headset, despite Astro Bot: Rescue Mission being one of Sony’s top VR games. Nicolas Doucet, the game director of Astro Bot, stated that a VR version of the upcoming Astro Bot on PS5 was “not even considered an option” and added that a port of the game is “very unlikely.”
In the past month, it was discovered that the upcoming Batman Arkham: Shadow will not be available on PSVR 2 as it will be a Meta exclusive release. This is particularly disappointing given the success of the original Batman Arkham VR on the first PlayStation VR platform. While Sony has not officially commented on these rumors, there are several indications suggesting that fewer than two million units sold for PSVR 2 would likely make further investment unviable. To give its product another chance, Sony plans to release a PC adapter in August, which will enable SteamVR games to be compatible with the Sony headset. It remains uncertain whether this move will be sufficient to reignite interest in PSVR 2.
