The last few months have really ramped up the speculation on the PSVR 2 front. First, Sony confirmed it was making a next-generation console that would support VR. Then, just last week, its head of R&D detailed what he expects to see in next-generation headsets. But we shouldn’t hold our breath for a true reveal anytime soon.
Following last week’s report, Cnet followed up with Sony’s Dominic Mallinson. They covered a lot of the same ground, but Mallinson did say he didn’t expect PSVR 2 to launch alongside PS5. “There’s no reason for us to coincide it with a new console,” he explained. “From the point of view of the consumer, to be bombarded with many many things — oh, you have to buy this, you have to buy that — is a message that we don’t want to send. In some ways, it’s good to have a little breathing space between those things.”
We’re not surprised to hear this. The original PSVR launched in late 2016, three years after the arrival of the PS4 itself. We do know Sony’s next console isn’t releasing this year, but it is expected in 2020. We still wouldn’t expect Sony to wait another three years after that to launch PSVR 2; the original headset will be a relic by that point, but should we expect it in 2021 or 2022?
The wait might seem unbearable in mid-2019, but the longer Sony waits the better PSVR 2 can be. In his talk at Collision 2019 last week, Mallinson outlined several areas of improvement such as resolution, field of view and even eye-tracking. Upgrading and adding these features will no doubt be expensive. Getting them down to a price that’s right for consumers will be Sony’s key to success.
