Sony gives first details on next-gen PSVR2 headset for PS5

Sony has announced some basic information about its much-anticipated next-generation VR hardware for the PS5, which it calls — predictably — PSVR2. Very little was revealed about the device but it did confirm some features gamers will care about.

The original PSVR was a competent, relatively affordable, easy to use device but fairly limited in terms of hardware: resolution, field of view and such. So Sony’s announcement that the new one will be considerably more advanced will be very welcome.

The PSVR2 was confirmed by Sony to have 4K HDR imagery, though it’s unclear if that’s total, per-eye, or some other metric. The field of view will also be wider than the original hardware. When the real specs come out it will be more clear how the headset will look to users, but things like the display type and refresh rate were not mentioned at the event. (Incidentally, rumors said OLED and 4K total resolution, with a 110-degree FoV.)

It will however have eye-tracking and foveated rendering, a must-have these days. Eye-tracking for obvious gameplay and other reasons, and foveated rendering so that the notoriously resource-hungry VR rendering process can focus its cycles on the area where the player is looking.

One last and rather unexpected feature is force feedback in the headset. Whether people really want their heads vibrated is an open question, but you never know unless you try.

Image Credits: Sony

A new set of controllers will also come with the set, which will include their own improvements over the PSVR’s original two, which though perfectly fine at the time have been superseded by the competition’s capabilities. Sony actually spilled the beans on these a while back.

The company announced that a VR-only game in the Horizon series (started by Zero Dawn and to be continued soon with Forbidden West) will be among the many Sony first party studios exclusives for the platform.

More information is surely forthcoming, though this seems to be all we can expect from today’s event. We’ll update if we hear more.