While the PlayStation VR headset is compatible with the PS5, it’s hard to forget that Sony designed the peripheral with the PS4 in mind. Not only is the setup cumbersome; the design itself is now a little outdated. Sony has hinted that a PS5-specific follow-up was en route, but now the company has confirmed it.
The PS5 will get its very own PSVR headset, and developers will start working with the device soon. The only caveat is that it may not reach consumer hands for a long time.
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The information comes from the Washington Post, in an article that summarizes an interview with PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan.
The biggest news, of course, is that a PSVR follow-up is definitely in the works, and that developers will get a chance to work with prototype models soon.
However, we also know a little bit about the upcoming device’s design. from Ryan who said: “We will be moving to a very easy single-cord setup."
That’s a far cry from the current PSVR procedure, which requires users to connect wires to three different devices (a console, a TV and a processing unit), and hope against hope that they don’t create a trip hazard during gameplay.
The only other thing we know about the hardware comes from an official PlayStation blog post, which went up shortly after Ryan’s commentary to the Washington Post. For the most part, the blog post covered the same territory as Ryan’s interview, save for a paragraph all about the new PSVR’s tentative controller.
“One of the key innovations we’re excited about is our new VR controller, which will incorporate some of the key features found in the DualSense wireless controller, along with a focus on great ergonomics,” wrote Hideaki Nishino, senior vice president of platform planning and management at Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Whether this means the next PSVR will have a more traditional controller, or whether the new controller will simply incorporate very subtle haptics, is up for interpretation at the moment. It’s entirely possible that Sony itself has not finalized a design. After all, the PSVR follow-up won’t be coming out anytime soon.
Both Ryan and Nishino agree: The next PSVR won’t come out this year, and neither executive has a hard date in mind. In fact, Ryan believes that while VR is past its infancy, it still has a long way to go before it becomes a truly mainstream gaming accessory.
“I think we’re more than a few minutes from the future of VR,” he said. “At some point in the future, VR will represent a meaningful component of interactive entertainment. Will it be this year? No. Will it be next year? No. But will it come at some stage? We believe that.”
As for whether the next PSVR model will usher in the “meaningful component” era or act as just one more stepping stone, we’ll have to wait and see — until 2022, at the very earliest.
