Sony Abandons PSVR? No Support on PS5
PlayStation 5 games will not support PSVR. UploadVR has received confirmation that purchasers of Hitman 3 and No Man's Sky will need to purchase their versions on PS4 if they want to use VR features on PlayStation 5.
We've known for some time that PlayStation VR owners will need to get a special accessory if they want to continue playing PS4 VR games on PlayStation 5. However, it turns out that this is not the only condition. UploadVR has learned that to play Hitman 3 in VR you will need a copy of the PlayStation 4 version of the game. The samee goes for No Man's Sky, which was announced last week to work with PSVR as part of backwards compatibility. In other words, PlayStation VR will not be supported by games released on PS5, even if the goggles work with the PS$ versions of the same titles.
This restriction may come as a surprise, but it does seem to confirm the speculation available to date. Back in August, it was mentioned (see the official PlayStation blog) that it was necessary to purchase a PlayStation Camera adapter for PS4 in order to play with PSVR on the new console. This suggested that the new camera did not support VR goggles. This was confirmed in mid-October in another entry.
Even earlier (and also a little later) we almost got confirmation that Sony is thinking about a new VR kit, although it will not be available for the launch of PlayStation 5. It is for this possible, and much more modern, equipment that VR games can be developed on PS5. However, we do stress the word 'possible', as there is no shortage of evidence that Sony's interest in VR is declining. Either way, it seems that PSVR will share the fate of DualShock 4 and we will use it only in games released on PS4.
Apart from more or less legitimate speculation, what does it mean for those who want to enjoy the benefits of VR on PS5? The need to purchase the game on PlayStation 4 is not a big problem, given the backwards compatibility support and announced free updates for both Hitman 3 (digital only) and No Man's Sky. But will there be an option to 'roll back' your PS5 version to make it compatible with PlayStation VR? Probably not, but we are waiting for official information.
