No backwards compatibility with first-gen titles

Bad news for those who want to buy a Sony PlayStation VR2 but have already built up a library of games for the first model: if you want to continue playing those games, you also need to keep the first PlayStation VR handy. According to Sony’s statements in an official podcast, the second generation will unfortunately not be backward compatible.

Technically, this would certainly have been possible. Sony justifies this decision by saying that the PlayStation VR2 wants to offer “a true next-gen experience”. It’s a rather strange argument, because on the PlayStation 5, for example, you also have no problem keeping PS4 games compatible. However, credit must be given to Sony for the fact that the new controllers would certainly require some effort to get already released PS VR games to work on next-gen as well.

Another issue could be that the PS VR2’s tracking technology is completely different from the first generation. In the end, we could certainly have found ways and means, but we can assume that the financial investment for Sony would have been disproportionate. Because based on PlayStation 4 sales figures, PS VR was more of a niche product that only a manageable proportion of PS4 gamers used. Over 117 million PS4s sold vs. around 5 million PS VR sales.

Recently there have been the first hands-on reports of the PlayStation VR2, which read quite positively – but were also created under very controlled conditions. I’m quite curious about Sony’s new VR headset, but I suspect it will again be a niche product for a very small group of users. It could just lead to the end as with the first generation: mini-games and entertaining “experiments” could appear mainly. But maybe I’ll be educated better.

This article contains affiliate links, so we mark it as advertisement. By clicking on it, you will directly access the supplier. If you decide to make a purchase there, we will receive a small commission. Nothing changes in the price for you. Thank you for your support!