The PlayStation 5 is poised to let down many players that own PSVR headsets, which is not receiving support for PS5 games like Hitman 3. The PS5 proves its potential to run games with stunning graphics while maintaining maximum performance, showcased by games like Demon's Souls with their realistic and smooth visuals. It only makes sense, then, that players want to experience these visuals from a first-person's perspective, but they'll have to make a big compromise to fulfill that fantasy.
A lot of hype was generated around a trailer that revealed Hitman 3 played in VR, changing the game's playstyle drastically. For a game that's usually played from a third-person perspective, switching to a first-person VR experience is a huge shift for the well-known series. Based on in-game VR footage shown so far, fans and critics of the Hitman franchise alike were blown away at the level immersion seemingly achieved by putting the camera inside of Agent 47's head. However, those wanting truly next-gen VR gameplay will be sorely disappointed.
Upload VR confirms that PSVR will not be compatible with PlayStation 5 versions of games, which means that anyone who wants to play games like Hitman 3 using PSVR, they'll have to purchase the PS4 versions instead and play those using the next-gen system's backward compatibility. Recently, Hello Games announced that No Man's Sky would have an official release on the PS5, but support for VR was not listed for the PS5 version - only for the PS4. While there is a free PS5 adapter for PSVR being given away by Sony, the PSVR platform doesn't actually support PS5 games. This may lead to difficulty for players who are enamored with VR tech and want to make the move to next-gen, who will have to weigh up getting a console that doesn't prioritize VR or transition into better-supported VR gaming on PC.
It is may come off as surprising that the PS5 games are not supported for VR, especially when the console is capable of insanely fast loading times, which one would think would be helpful for rendering VR worlds. However, it seems that putting VR on the backburner is a key part of current Sony hardware strategy. When recently discussing the future of PlayStation and VR, Sony's CEO Jim Ryan recently predicted, "Will it be this year? No. Will it be next year? No. But will it come at some stage? We believe that.” This cryptic statement might reveal the crux of the issue; beyond VR's relatively slow growth in popularity, the PS5 will likely get its own PSVR 2.0 of some sort in the coming years.
Not everyone has or is interested in a PSVR, so this current misstep may not drastically alter the sales of the massively anticipated PS5. It does provide some relief that support for VR is still being planned for the future, but the wait may be enough to keep some player sticking to their current hardware for now.
The PlayStation 5 will be available in select countries on November 12, 2020 and globally on November 19. Pre-orders are available now.
Source: Upload VR