PlayStation VR2 will not be backward compatible

The upcoming PlayStation VR2 will not support past PSVR games, according to Sony.
playstation vr 2

Sony has officially confirmed the upcoming PlayStation VR2 device will not be compatible with the PSVR games of the past. According to Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President at Sony Interactive Entertainment, this is due to the ‘advanced features’ of the PSVR2, which provide a brand new experience for players.

‘PSVR Games are not compatible with PSVR2 because PSVR2 is designed to deliver a truly next-generation VR experience,’ Nishino told the Official PlayStation Podcast.

‘PSVR2 has much more advanced features like [an] all-new controller with haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers as I said, inside-out tracking, eye tracking, 3D audio is coming together, and HDR, of course. So this means that developing games for PSVR2 requires a whole different approach than PSVR.’

Games designed for the PlayStation VR2 will take advantage of new systems that will differ greatly from the original PSVR hardware, making movement and signals from the original device non-compatible (the original uses the PlayStation Camera, for example, and the PSVR2 does not).

That means if you’ve got a library of older PSVR games – Beat Saber or Superhot, for example – you’ll need to keep your original PSVR handy to play through these experiences.

Read: Meta Quest 2 review – A stepping stone to the future

It’s likely these games could receive ‘next gen’ updates, in the same way developers overhauled PlayStation 4 games with new graphics and DualSense compatibility for PS5 – but so far, these plans have not been discussed.

When the PlayStation VR2 launches, you can expect the device to rely on a newer games library that includes upcoming titles like Horizon Call of the Mountain, Demeo, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 2, and the exclusive PS VR2 mode for Resident Evil Village.

More games and experiences will likely be announced as we get closer to the device’s early 2023 release date.

Leah J. Williams is a gaming and entertainment journalist who's spent years writing about the games industry, her love for The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS and every piece of weird history she knows. You can find her tweeting @legenette most days.