Sony announced 11 additional games for the new PlayStation VR2 on Wednesday, along with the unit’s launch date and (heavy) price. As PlayStation VR2 will not be compatible with games from the original PlayStation VR, the new system’s launch library is of particular importance to potential buyers.
Of the 11 games announced on Wednesday, some have name recognition, perhaps not to the degree of Horizon Call of the Mountain Where Resident Evil Village. And if none of those can pull a $549.99 PS VR2 off the shelves, it’s a safe bet that Dark Images: Looking Backthe prettiest title among the new PS VR2 games unveiled on Wednesday, won’t do the trick either.
The last announcement did not mention the cost of a single copy of the new PS VR2 titles. The base edition of a new PlayStation 5 title can cost $69.99. The only PlayStation VR2 bundle that includes a game pack in Horizon Call of the Mountain, for a total price of $599.99 – meaning we can expect this game to cost at least $50.
Here are the five PlayStation VR2 launch titles we knew about before Wednesday, based on a comment the Sony Interactive Entertainment boss made in May, when he said PS VR2 would have 20 “major” games at launch.
- Horizon Call of the Mountain – Obviously, SIE is considering this adaptation of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon franchise as a table-setter for PlayStation VR2. The developers at a hands-on event in September said the game would deliver an all-new story in a six- or seven-hour experience. “Compared to the other games on display, call of the mountain seemed to be the most personalized for the new helmet,” we said at the time.
- resident Evil Town – Capcom announced during June’s State of Play event that the 2021 survival horror hit will get PlayStation VR2 support through the PlayStation 5 version of the game. A release date for this support package has not yet been announced. been specified, but the good news is that fans who already have the game for PS5 essentially have a free game waiting if they go the VR2 route.
- No Man’s Sky — Also in June, Hello Games announced that No Man’s Sky, the studio’s six-year-old live-action sci-fi adventure, was “in development for PlayStation VR2”. It looks like it will be a support update for the existing PlayStation 5 version, which launched in November 2020. That’s how Hello rolled when it brought No Man’s Sky to the original PSVR in 2019.
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners — Chapter 2: Retribution: This is a brand new game, released for Meta Quest on December 1st. This is the sequel to The Walking Dead: Saints and sinners, launched in early 2020 for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index. A PS4/PSVR version will also launch alongside the PS VR2 version.
- star wars: Tales from Galaxy’s Edge—Enhanced Edition: The original version of this VR-only adventure launched for Quest headsets in late 2020. A port is only planned for PlayStation VR2.
Now, out of 11 games announced on Wednesday, three are brand new:
- Dark Images: Looking Back – From Supermassive Games, this is a spin-off from the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, which premiered in 2019 with Medan Man and ends on November 18 with The devil in me. While not a brand new IP per se, this game is exclusive to PlayStation VR2. None of the previous Dark Pictures games have been adapted for VR systems, although Supermassive previously delivered a roller coaster-themed spin-off of another of its horror games, Until dawncalled Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.
- Crossfire: Sierra Squad – Smilegate’s hugely popular Asian multiplayer shooter has come west to consoles with CrossfireX for Xbox One and Xbox Series X in February. “Play as the leader of an elite squad in the midst of a war for a newly discovered top-secret biochemical weapon,” says Smilegate on the PlayStation Blog.
- Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue — Although Critical, 2017 hello neighbor from publisher TinyBuild has nonetheless spawned a strong franchise. A sequel is expected by the end of 2022, a prequel launched in December 2018, and Search and rescue is his first VR adaptation. It will also launch for the original PlayStation VR.
Four games are adaptations of existing virtual reality games, either for PlayStation VR or other headsets.
- After the fall
- VR Cities — Enhanced Edition
- Jurassic World Aftermath Collection
- Zenith: the last city
And four more are brand new VR games from small indie developers:
- The Light Brigade
- Cosmological high
- Whip Gun
- Sprawling
PlayStation VR2 will launch on February 22, 2023. Pre-orders begin on November 15, starting from PlayStation’s online store. Customers can register for a virtual place online for this.