As the November 12th/19th release date grows ever nearer, more details have come about Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5 console regarding backward compatibility, a feature that has been highly demanded by fans over the past generation. We recently got news about the way the PS5 will treat PS4 games, and now, we have details on the way the console will work with PlayStation VR, Sony’s VR headset that came out in 2016.
Some good news for fans is that the existing set of PSVR accessories, including the camera and PS Move controllers, will still work on the new PS5. That is especially good considering how much the kit costs. Despite being one of the cheapest VR options on the market, PSVR still retails for around $300 – we haven’t quite got to the point where virtual reality tech is massively affordable (they’re still pretty good though), it’s still very much an enthusiast’s market.
One point to note is that PlayStation VR won’t work with the new PS5 camera. To reiterate, the existing PS4 camera will support PSVR on PS5, but not the new camera. Clear? The PS4 camera will require an adapter to work with the PS5 according to Sony, but it’s not clear on the availability of the adapter, or whether it will be included in the PS5 box (although we could safely assume that it won’t be, given the comparatively small install base of the PSVR. It’s still an impressive figure on its own though, at over 5 million units sold as of the dawn of 2020).
The PlayStation 5 will launch on November 12 in certain countries and November 19 in others. We recently got an idea about the install size of the next generation of games, and they aren’t exactly tiny. The news about the backwards compatibility for games is good news though, considering when the feature was initially discussed at Sony’s GDC PlayStation 5 Specs event, the extent of compatibility wasn’t clearly defined. As of now, only 11 games won’t be compatible, all of which I doubt will be dearly missed.
What are your thoughts on these new PSVR details? Let me know in the comments below!