Sony's PSVR 2 virtual reality headset will get an adaptor for PCs this summer but its best features will remain exclusive to PlayStation

nanoUFO@sh.itjust.worksmod to Games@sh.itjust.works – 54 points –
Sony's PSVR 2 virtual reality headset will get an adaptor for PCs this summer but its best features will remain exclusive to PlayStation
pcgamer.com
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$5 says it's going to require a PlayStation Network account to use it on the computer

VR is dead again, and this time is 100% because of greedy fuckers ruining their own hardware in the name of exclusivity. The technology is fine. The companies are crabs in a bucket.

gigantic sony L. was really excited to give vr another shot on my pc, oh well

Yeah, I'm all for a new PCVR headset entering the scene but the actual nice features that separate it from the rest being left out has kinda killed my hype. Still not a terrible headset, but I'm not getting hardware I can't use properly.

it has completely killed my hype. all these additional features are the reason why I wanted it in the first place. I also do not trust sony to turn these features on down the line. it should be launching feature complete, and I struggle to understand why some features are left out and not others... 😵‍💫

Yup, I hear ya. It's funny, the reason I was hyped before was it honestly didn't even cross my mind they'd launch it with all the cool features disabled. Makes no sense.

The way they're wording it gives the vibes it was purely a business decision so it doesn't cannibalize PS5 sales or something, except that then makes it so that no one really has a reason to get it on PC either! Gotta love it.

At this point I'm hoping the community will pick it up and hack away at it to enable whatever they can, maybe I'll consider it if something like that turns out to be feasible in the future.

I don’t think it’s that either. They’re getting it to market as soon as possible and that means they’re standing up on top of Steam VR’s APIs which don’t do any of the PSVR2 exclusive features.

It takes time to build out their own drivers and implement their APIs and ensure they work on PC. Since a lot of the low level stuff is in their own drivers on PS5 - which is a fork of FreeBSD I believe - which means it’s not as simple as just compiling a binary for a different target platform. They’ve got to basically write it all for Windows from scratch (but perhaps not so hard for Linux).

So they either wait ages while they do all that development work or they see the interest in PSVR2 as a HMD for Steam VR whilst working on writing Windows/Linux drivers. It’s a great first step and opens up opportunities.

I think it’s a fantastic effort by Sony and increases the value of their headset and gives a nice indicator they’re exploring bringing their exclusive PSVR titles to another platform.

Sony make hardware - it’s deep in their blood. Could this be a sign they’re considering a place where they’re not making consoles but instead making the best HMDs and motion controllers? Perhaps. And it’s a wise way for them to hedge their bets.

Let’s face it. Valve are all in on Linux. Sony are all in on FreeBSD. They both see FOSS as integral to the future of gaming. PSVR2 on Steam VR is a great sign for Linux/Unix gaming moving forward and perhaps a surprise from the two companies in the future…

Oh I didn't realize SteamVR didn't support all that, great points! That's a lot more understandable then, here's hoping it catches on and they eventually manage to get it to support everything in that case.

I can imagine the new Astrobot getting a PC port, where you’re still literally using a dualsense controller as part of the game. It’s about the best advertising you can get for your own hardware/legacy.

If such a thing happens and it sells controllers, I can imagine them doing something with PSVR2 as well, assuming the hardware limitations get sorted.

Totally! I bought a DualSense to use with my gaming PC and I love it! It works seamlessly with Steam Input and it gets full support on PlayStation 5 games that have come out on Steam.

Honestly, I’d love to see Sony’s adaptive triggers come to PC - it’s such an amazing experience feeling tension on the triggers. The haptics are also crazy cool (and if Sony and Valve grow as partners, we could possibly even see those features added to Steam Input for DualSense controllers).

Sony need to protect their interests but if they see a world where Steam gamers are buying DualSense controllers and PSVR headsets, it might give them reason enough to cross-publish on PlayStation and Steam (Valve could very well cut them a deal to dramatically drop their standard 30% cut).

I’d LOVE for the next Steam Deck to be a joint venture with Sony. I miss the PSP / PS Vita all the time and the Deck is the closest to a modern iteration (and it’s not so far off the design I’d have expected from Sony themselves).

I think the odds of Sony and Steam collaborating on hardware is really slim, but I would die for a PlayStation x Steam Deck. My deck OLED is all but a Chiaki machine, to be honest.

Yeah. Didn’t Sony have some discord deal. And now it’s on Xbox but not PlayStations. Lmao

How long until someone hacks a way to get some of those working anyway

Afaik someone already was attempting to reverse engineer a driver for Windows for foveated rendering etc. But that was a bit after the release and am not aware what the current progress is.

I added this item straight to my list of things i will never get ! Thank you Sony for another one.

Exciting for PC gamers, but a bit disappointing that the top features will stay PlayStation-exclusive.

Not really, unless you really don't want to use Meta products (at which point I'd wonder why you would rather patronise Sony of all companies) why would you not get a Quest 3 for the same amount as a psvr+adapter?

The quest 3 is lighter, higher res, can work standalone and doesn't need a wire to work with a computer. It beats the PSVR2 on pretty much any metric you care to name, except that its screens are not oled hdr.