Ninja Theory Explains Hellblade's PSVR Snub

There's a reasonable explanation

by Sammy Barker Wed 25th Jul 2018

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice PS4 PlayStation VR 1

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was announced for virtual reality headsets earlier today, but it won’t support PlayStation VR, prompting a bit of a backlash. Some felt that developer Ninja Theory – now a Microsoft subsidiary – was skipping Sony’s headset for corporate reasons, an assumption not exactly supported by the fact that the PlayStation 4 version of the game was patched with new features this morning.

Of course, the Internet can be such an angry place that it’s forced the Cambridge developer to comment, explaining that it’s “targeting very high-end PC VR setups”. This was our assumption when we received the press release as well, as the game can’t hold a locked 60 frames-per-second on the PS4 Pro on a standard screen, so the sacrifices would be far too great to maintain a steady framerate in virtual reality.

It’s good that the studio clarified as it should dampen any backlash, but it’s perhaps just a reminder to not go on online crusades when you see a piece of news that doesn’t suit you; sometimes there are other perfectly valid explanations outside of console wars.

[source twitter.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
LieutenantFatman
Wed 25th Jul 2018

It's a shame Sony doesn't allow a VR game to work just on the PS4 pro. This coming from someone who doesn't own a pro. Certainly better than skipping PlayStation altogether.

2
Th3solution
Wed 25th Jul 2018

I still need to play this game.

3
get2sammyb
Wed 25th Jul 2018

@LaNooch1978 It's third-person. I've played a few third-person games in VR now and it's actually better than you'd think. It works well.

@LieutenantFatman Even then I'm still not sure there'd be enough horsepower. The PC requirements are really high.

4
AdamNovice
Wed 25th Jul 2018

I still think they could have drawn back on the graphics quite a bit to get it running on PSVR but seems like they don't want to. Just don't get how anyone would make a VR game that can't be released on the one headset that actually sells. Bad form Ninja Theory...again.

5
Splints
Thu 26th Jul 2018

Everything they have said since being acquired has been absolute BS. No reason to think this statement is any different.

6
Gamer83
Thu 26th Jul 2018

Makes total sense but PlayStation fanboys will remain salty... Not that I'm surprised.

7
IBeAGamer
Thu 26th Jul 2018

@Gamer83 how dare they want access to the game.

8
IBeAGamer
Thu 26th Jul 2018

No big loss, terrible game from an overrated pretentious dev team.

9
RustyBullet
Thu 26th Jul 2018

@UltimateDespair1 Terible game ? Have you played it ? The game is awesome, its the fact that the PC version requires a 1080 minimum to play. Lowering the graphics would not have been the right thing to do.