Backward compatibility is still not guaranteed with consoles, especially with Sony’s PlayStation. Sony’s PSVR 2 is the successor to the original PSVR and is considered one of the most state-of-art virtual reality headsets that consumers can purchase on the market. Any fan of the PSVR or virtual reality would likely want to upgrade to the PSVR 2, and players might be wondering if they can play games initially released for the PSVR on the new headset.
Related: PSVR 2 will have eye-tracking, headset feedback, 4K HDR display, and more
Is the PSVR 2 Backwards compatible?
PlayStation’s Senior Vice President of platform experiences, Hideaki Nishino, confirmed in the official PlayStation podcast that the PSVR is not backward compatible. Nishino elaborates that the PSVR 2 is more advanced than the original hardware and includes features that weren’t in the original PSVR. The PSVR 2 has a new controller haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, inside-out tracking, eye-tracking, and 3D audio. Most of these features were not a part of the first PSVR.
According to Nishino, the games cannot be straight ported from the PSVR to the PSVR 2, as the titles would require a rework to function within the PSVR 2’s specificities. If you were planning to sell off your classic PSVR headset, we recommend that you hold off if you want to continue playing any of the games released on the original headset.
What else to know about the PSVR 2?
Multiple games are being developed for the PSVR 2, including Capcom’s highly anticipated Resident Evil 4 Remake and Resident Evil Village. The Remake will come with exclusive VR content when it releases next year, and Village will be a launch title for the PSVR 2 “sometime in 2023.” Another launch title for the headset is Horizon Call of the Mountain, first announced alongside PSVR 2 itself. The PSVR 2 headset is not compatible with PCs, at least not at launch. The PSVR 2 will also have higher graphical fidelity than any other VR headset on the market.
