The news that PSVR2 will not be backwards compatible is not exactly surprising. The reality is that Sony’s new headset has a pair of brand-new controllers, which utilise an entirely different tracking system and button setup to the PS Move. Even the DualSense controller lacks the lightbar of the DualShock 4, so games like Astro Bot Rescue Mission are not viable either.
So, what will become of all those great PSVR games? Well, we’ve been hearing for a while that developers are working on ports of their best-selling virtual reality titles, and it’s something that YouTube channel PSVR Without Parole has corroborated. Writing on Twitter in response to a disgruntled fan, it said: “Tons of devs are working on PSVR2 versions of their PSVR games as we speak!”
We suppose the big question is how these re-releases will be delivered: should we expect free updates, discounted upgrade fees, or will we need to buy the games all over again? Presumably, devs will work on a case-by-case basis, and there’ll be no one-size-fits-all solution here. Personally, we’re hoping there’ll at least be nominal upgrade paths available to existing owners.
There’s an opportunity to really upgrade some of the best games, though. Beat Saber already plays pretty great with PS Move wands, but it’ll feel much more responsive with the PSVR2 Sense Controllers, especially when you add in the haptic feedback and other features; the same is true of Blood & Truth, an ambitious action game which pushed the original hardware to breaking point.
We’re hoping Sony pulls back the curtain soon. While it’s great to see some hands on previews for the hardware this week, it still feels like the Japanese giant is holding back, doesn’t it?
[source twitter.com]
Comments 52
Yeah I'll definitely take a free or reduced price upgrade path but none of these VR titles are that much to begin with so, idk, I won't be too mad at a standard purchase price honestly.
Good to hear that devs are working on upgrades in any case.
Ill take free.
But honestly Im not too fussed by most PSVR titles if they get a free upgrade or not.
Im quite happy with the performance of most on the PS4 PRO (even without sticks)
Chances are Ill keep my PRO as a mainly PSVR machine.
Only title Id be looking forward to an upgrade would probably be Hitman......with new more immersive controls and performance boost.
I mean , it's kinda weird if the psvr2 is your first vr headset and you cant even play all the previous games.
I don't see a big deal here. PSVR is compatible with Ps5 so just keep the thing in the closet if you want to play an old VR game every now and then. It's not like it has any resell value. PSVR2 is just so fundamentally different than the original it makes sense it would take a team to port each game for the new tech. It's not simple emulation like BC.
If Moss II and Astrobot Rescue Mission could get patches or ports I'd be chuffed. Both are in my library but I haven't played either yet.
But ultimately my PSVR headset is on my shelf. If I want to play them bad enough I'll just set it up again.
Edit: I need to pay better attention to Sammy — https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/08/cute-platforming-sequel-moss-book-2-sniffing-around-psvr2
"should we expect free updates, discounted upgrade fees, or will we need to buy the games all over again?"
If is from a third party developer it will be a free update or a small fee, if is from a Sony studio you will have to buy it again 🙂
I'm still excited for the headset though it just means is not a day one purchase, the great thing would have been playing the psvr games while you wait for the psvr2 ones to come out drip by drip.
I’ve played most of the PSVR games I want to, so not too bothered. If they re-release some of the greats, like Astro Bot, I’ll happily go through a trophy campaign again. Just about the only one I never finished, as I couldn’t get in with the controls was Skyrim, but I doubt that’ll get a port because Microsoft.
So basically PSVR2 is the Switch and PSVR is Wii U? Got it. 🤑
Great to hear! I imagine Sony will go out of their way to support this. Bolstering the number of PSVR2 games could do very well for Sony, do they need this to strengthen the library and also use familiar games to convince you to upgrade. The more of the current games I can play on PSVR2 the better. And considering it was gonna come out this year, and the hardware is ready to play, it may very well have been so developers had more time to do this. I view some more niche titles get ports, like Tokyo Chronos for example.
@rjejr Nah, PSVR was a much more compelling purchase than the WiiU. Trust me, I know….
barely a handful of titles worth replaying any way, and they are going to pale in comparison to vr2 games. but people like to complain without giving devs a chance, or even knowing what games will be released day1
@Juanalf evil Sony is so evil with its evil eviling.
Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, Synth Riders, Audica are on my whislist for PSVR 2. Those games have almost infinite replayability!
@BeerIsAwesome Sadly Driveclub is gone now, so a port (not even an upgraded one) is out of the question.
That's a shame, as Driveclub is still is the best racing game (excluding more cartoonish ones like Crash Team Racing) of the PS4 era for me, and the PSVR version was incredibly immersive, even with the much downgraded graphics....
Tetris Effect baby.....or even better, make a Tetris Effect 2😀 If not might as well throw the entire unit in the trash!
Sounds like as people predicted in the previous article they'll resell the games & Sony will obviously get their 30% cut ... Lovely jubbly
Nice, I would love to receive good remasters of the amazing games of the previous PSVR with the vibration, graphics and all the capabilities of the new PSVR2 that will arrive soon 😁
Games I really want to see ported.
Iron Man
No Man's Sky (confirmed I know)
Skyrim
Minecraft
Blood and Truth
Tetris Effect
Rez Infinite
Beat Saber
Synth Riders
Moss 1 and 2
Wipeout
Borderlands 2
And Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
If most if not all of them are ported over (especially for free) then I don't think the majority will complain.
If Sony are clever about it, it would be a good idea to do a Plus Collection VR version so day one buyers will have access to some of PSVR1's best games.
I figure there's a decent chance that Astrobot and the Moss games get updates, but the one I most want is Pistol Whip. I'd also love the Jeff Minter games to get updates, but I won't hold my breath on those.
The only thing I'd really want is BeatSaber to be on PSVR2, which it will and my dlc to carry over. If be happy to pay a reasonable upgrade fee too have that game with better control.
First people complain about the lack of psvr1 games (there is nothing but re7, only tech demos etc.), now backwards compatibility is the most important feature.
I think, most of the good games will be ported (not all, and not all for free). Anyway, i am excited for the new games which actually exploit the hardware.
Sony should update the Playstation Store and make it very clear that you can't play them on PSVR2. So like how when you go to buy Series X|S games on XB1 there's a big red warning that you can't play it on the current system.
People not in the loop could easily miss the news about no backwards compatibility.
This is great news Astro bot on PSVR is amazing. Would be great to play on the new headset.
Really pulling for a port of Iron Man, that game would feel insane with the haptics
Astro Bot, Beat Saber and Iron Man, it's all I really want.
I wish they would just freaking blow the lid off and show us this thing fully already and tell us what to expect. Whens the release? How can we pre-order (and will you properly defend against bots this time)? How much is it? Is there a pack in game? What is the full launch line up? What devs are porting VR1 games? Like...we need to know this stuff.
Personally, money is not an issue so even if I have to rebuy the big titles, I'll be happy they're just on the platform. Rescue Mission, Moss 1-2, No Mans Sky (already confirmed), Tetris Effect and is it too much to wish for Rush of Blood?
@Shepherd_Tallon BRO I never saw that article either! Thats huuuge!
I sure hope StarWars Squadrons gets patched.
Great news, I can think of quite a few I'd love to play again with some decent tracking
@Olmaz driveclub is top tier racer. Vr version, not so much... it pales in comparison to GT Sport VR tracks in terms of immersion, sim and performance. No tears will be shed here for DC VR not being ported.
@naruball I don't think they are evil though, just the greediest company right next to Apple and Samsung! Although I would put them over Sony since they like selling overpriced phones in near empty boxes 🙂
I need astrobot. It's one of the best games I've ever played and I never finished it (then sold my psvr)
@Jaz007 Compelling? Maybe. But I own both, and the PSVR got used for maybe 2 dozen hours, if that. I played w/ my Labo sets more than that. I put hundreds of hours on Wii U. Which I then didn't play on Switch b/c I had already played all the games.😂
Some day I'll play my PSVR again. If I can bother to hook it back up. I do have the PS5 dongle so that's a start.
I have a feeling this isn’t going to be a big issue…
And here’s the obvious follow up to the stupidity outrage.
@Ultrasmiles I’m thinking of buying one as my son is turning 6 soon. While I’m not interested in VR games, I’d like for him to be able to play some of the more famous older ones - which I assume they will make due to their popularity - like beat sabre.
Do the right thing and make them free updates for people who have the PSVR version in their library.
@rjejr You probably like Nintendo platformers more than me.
But as a point of using that device itself well, I can name many more compelling PSVR games than on the Wii U. Nintendo had a cool idea with the gamepad then completely ignored it. What games made compelling use of it? Arkham City. Maybe Zombue U (never played it). I’m not sure any of Nintendo’s games ever really made genuinely creative use of it. (Wait, Nintendo Land was a good start) I might be missing one or two, but I feel that’s better it. They often flat out pretended it didn’t exist.
It’s not hard to list VR games that need to be in VR.
I’m certainly glad you enjoyed the Wii U more than I did though. I was so ready for it and then found it to be so lackluster in the games department.
@Ultrasmiles its not that weird when you consider the technology leap...it would be like trying to play a N64 catridge on a Switch.
I wish for a free update, but that will depend on whether or not those games will be simply ported or if they'll have to write some parts from scratch, because PSVR2 inputs and tracking are way different than PSVR.
They better be free if you already purchased them. And no, not taking a cheap discount to upgrade. Already paid once, not paying again. But I really doubt its gonna be free.
@Yupyupyup True, but it is nice not to have to use both. It's more of an inconvenience than anything, but the real issue is for people like me that never bought the original headset. I never felt there was quite enough for the money, even though there is a quality list from people in the comments.
Since this will likely be ridiculously expensive this time around, having the previous library and whatever comes out for it this time around makes it more viable at some point. Regardless, being able to play the old games for people who never bought the first one would be nice.
Now to the article from @get2sammyb, it is true technically that the DualSense doesn't have the lightbar, but it still does in a way around the touchpad. That acts the same as the lightbar did, so you still should be able play Astrobot or any games that used it with the DualSense.
@KilloWertz It has a light bar around the touchpad that faces you, and therefore the headset’s cameras.
@ReadySlayerOne just a heads up that the age recommendations for most VR headsets is around 12 or 13+ with HTC even saying children shouldn't use it at all. Definitely not out here to tell anyone how to parent but I did wanna just put that out there.
This stuff is fairly new and there's been very little to no research on the long term effects of VR on things like vision and brain development in children. Seems like most people in child development recommend exercising extreme caution in this area, in the absence of data.
My excitement of getting those PSVR games on PS+ just went bust.
Probably zero chance that the VR missions in Ace Combat 7 will get ported 😌 Hope for Blood and Truth
Calling BS on Sony... If Random people can make ReVIVE Compatibility Layer on PC. Something similar can be done on PS5 also.
@zupertramp well good to know, he actually doesn’t play PS really. So I haven’t done any research into it. But it looks like a good idea to sit and wait, I’ll look into though. Thanks for the heads up - much appreciated.
@Ultrasmiles not really the headset uses different tracking and different controllers. The game would have to be reworked for the headset to work with that game. It’s not something that’s an easy patch
I never got PSVR, but got a bunch of games of PS Plus. PSVR2 is really making me want to jump into it, and I am really hoping I can get these games, namely Astro, to free upgrades or discounted at least. It sucks not being able to use those and have wanted to play them.
@Juanalf We're gonna have to agree to disagree. I find Nintendo and Microsoft far more greedy, though I've repeatedly expressed my disappointment in Sony increasing the price of the ps5.
"If is from a third party developer it will be a free update or a small fee, if is from a Sony studio you will have to buy it again 🙂"
I mean this is simply incorrect. I could list all the examples that contradict your assertion, but I'm sure you are aware of them already
@Agramonte How you call BS on something we know very little about is beyond me. I guess it's how the internet works, though.
@rawzeku if it requires considerable effort to be ported, I don't see how you expect them to be free. Hopefully, we'll find out soon from 3rd party developers who can speak more freely.
This is awesome news to hear, hopefully most of the PSVR1 titles are ported.
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