PSVR 2 is not backwards compatible with original PSVR games

PlayStation recently confirmed during a podcast that original PlayStation VR games will not be backward compatible with the new and improved PlayStation VR 2. In a recent podcast, a Sony executive exp[lained why. Check out the details in today's video.

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SOURCES

[YouTube] Horizon: Call of the Mountain PSVR 2 trailer

[YouTube] Resident Evil 8 PSVR2

[CRAgamer]

Dumb move, now this things gonna have almost nothing worth playing for a good while without that backlog.

[BrianMills]

Such a big mistake. They have been pumping out PSVR titles on PS Plus for ages, basically having people build a back catalog for when PSVR2 launches. But now those games are pointless.

[BTBSOUNDS]

PSVR 2 just went from a Day 1 purchase for me to "Eh I dont even think I'll get it" because I have almost 45 VR games including some incredibly fun ones that I was looking forward to playing at a higher resolution

[TIVIS]

Thank you for continuing to keep this alive. I feel like this isn’t said enough. It really means a lot to still have a great place to get news from.

[TonyTyga]

“So it can’t run your old games bc it’s too awesome.” - PlayStation 😂

[vintageroller]

this is a largely missed opportunity. being a psvr owner i was hopeful for backwards compatibility with my current headset. another reason why pc is just a better platform these days. no bs segregation.

[SomeGuyXG]

I suspect that a major part of this is that the tracking for PSVR (using the camera set on top of the TV) and the tracking announced for PSVR2 (inside-out tracking built into the headset) are just too radically different in a development environment to be able to just easily port over. I would hope that they will work with developers to create PSVR2 builds of these games and maybe offer those as free upgrades for owning the PSVR version, but the skeptic in me doubts that will universally be the case.

[cfitz]

Yep that killed my plan to buy the new headset to play the old games more easily. They lost my business on that peripheral. Knowing them they’ll just rerelease half the old games for the ps5 and make you either subscribe to their most expensive service or go buy another full price copy. Like they did with spiderman ps5 update and the nioh and nioh 2 ps5 update. This has been the sloppiest generation changeover I can recall since the wii to wiiU.

[EricLeeStepp]

This just seems like a huge miss. If it's just the controllers make new controllers for the backwards compatibility. It's much better than buying two different sets.

[ColinFilm]

You'd think Sony would've learned their lesson from disappointment players had with the PS3 to PS4 compatibility issues that something like this wouldn't happen again but yet here we are. 🤷

[LittleDemonInside]

VR already has a limited audience and it's still new technology, comparatively speaking. I think it's a mistake to cut its library when it's still yet to really go mainstream.

[boigercat]

As someone who brought two psvr headsets I think this is a massive mistake. I put a lot of games on the back burner because the tech wasn't ready for them. Actually I put most of the psvr games I brought away waiting for psvr 2. So this is extremely disappointing and at this point I might as well just get a pc. Sony has made it clear they don't care about previous purchases we have made as customers. So why would I waste time and money trying to get a ps5 and a vr2 headset just so I can't play a bunch of games I was really hoping to play with improved tech..

[disky]

Nishino didn't provide anything more than a marketing response when an honest answer, even a negative one, would have been much better for everyone. Thanks for the reasonable explanation. It makes a lot more sense now.

[LucidDreamexe]

The market for vr is still small. You can not do this. The limited games we have are why we play it. With no backwards comp there's little to no reason to buy a new headset and allow the platform to advance.
If the controllers are the issue, I feel for the devs that have to put in the work to fix it, and it's a failure on PlayStations to look ahead. I hope that when their third headset comes out they will have accounted for this in advance. Glad I don't play vr on ps.

[RoxYgen]

As a psvr user, this doesn’t bum me out at all. It’s a big leap forward for the tech, it’s a better move. No pun intended. Thanks Evan!!!

[elbee]

As a guess, I suspect that the motion tracking of the original PSVR was based around the TV mounted PS eye camera combined with the gyroscope inputs of the PS move hand controllers. The new system in the PSVR2 looks to put the cameras in the headset while combining again with gyroscopic inputs from the controllers. That's a very different position and angle, and not necessarily a one to one, as different people have different heights and arm lengths. They may need to dial in each individual user, which would be a huge pain, and much easier just to put it on the developers to import their data and build in the different motion control systems.

[thedarkemissary]

I think it's the right move. Just like the PS3. It was creative to try something new. But, ultimately it hurt them when it came to adaptivity and universal functionality. Moving into compatibility with other VR platforms is better despite the loss of their current library. It's no different than having a old console. Still works.

Anything to get that sweet VR Porn running smoothly.

[timothyjames]

It was kind of a given considering they were making a PSVR2 version of NMS. Nice to finally get an official confirmation. Now we wait to see if there will be some kind of upgrade deal for those who purchased those titles on PSVR.

[Herozonex]

Welp they answered my question. Guess I'll buy the original if the sequel ain't backwards compatible

[ItsKagiVids]

Welp way to kill you're product Sony. Why the hell should people buy it when it'll barely have games day 1.