It doesn’t seem that long ago that Sony launched PlayStation VR 2 to a gaming audience keen to see PlayStation 5’s future VR capabilities. Early reviews painted a positive picture of a refined headset filled to the brim with new tech and features found almost nowhere else. However, the past two years have been a very rocky road for PSVR 2, with some exceptional games scattered amongst poor launches and minimal first-party support. But can PSVR 2 mount a comeback in 2025 thanks to new initiatives, features and support from developers?
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PSVR 2’s price reduction
Affordability goes a long way where mainstream adoption is concerned. While PSVR 2’s original price of $550 could be partially justified on the amount of features it contained. The fact that it cost more than a PS5 never helped matters. So when the price was slashed in 2024 to $350, it wasn’t too surprising that retailers reported a surge in sales (some sold more in a month than they did all year). But those sales were short lived.
However, Sony Interactive Entertainment recently announced a permanent price reduction bringing both the solo headset and Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle down to $399.99. Whilst not quite as cheap as the sale price, this can’t help but to improve PSVR 2’s odds during 2025 that sales may improve. That price also closes the gap between PSVR 2 and its main rival, Meta Quest 3.
Let’s not forget that thanks to the PC adaptor, PSVR 2 can be used for PCVR gaming. Making it a far more tempting purchase for those who own PS5 and PC setups.
Handy hand-tracking
When PSVR 2 launched in 2023, it came out all guns blazing. It had expected features like a tidier setup with one cable and inside-out tracking. But it also came with eye tracking, headset haptics and those Dual Sense Controllers. It was certainly feature rich. Albeit, there was one feature it didn’t have, and that was hand tracking.
Meta was storming ahead in this area, continually reiterating its hand tracking solution through Quest 2 and into Quest 3. Then when Apple Vision Pro came out – sans controllers – hand tracking shifted a gear into the wider tech consciousness, and PSVR 2 looked a little behind the curve.
Then out of nowhere, hand tracking support for PSVR 2 suddenly appeared! No major announcement, just a random, small demo at Siggraph 2024 Asia in December. The addition showed that SIE was still interested in its VR headset to develop new features, but not enough to justify actually marketing it in any broad way.
It’s only been a couple of months, and to date only Waltz of the Wizard officially supports hand tracking. But maybe more PSVR developers will utilise this, especially those that already deploy hand tracking on Quest games.
Games, Games, Games
Pricing and novel hand tracking are all well and good. However, without a decent schedule of upcoming games, justifying a PSVR 2 purchase gets more and more difficult. And the issue is certainly exacerbated by the lack of first-party games from Sony.
Even so, PSVR 2 owners have the likes of DIG VR, The Midnight Walk; Zombie Army VR, Aces of Thunder; Dreams of Another, POOLS; Flight Simulator VR 2025, Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, Firmament; and many more to look forward to.
And if hardware sales are increasing, thanks to the lower price point, a larger user base would certainly benefit existing PSVR 2 devs whilst encouraging more into the fold.
So what do you think? Is there still plenty of life left in Sony’s headset? Can PSVR 2 mount a comeback in 2025? Have you recently bought the headset thanks to the price drop? Or do you think the end is nigh? Let us know in the comments below.
