At the time, I internally wrote two theories based on that quote. First of all – and this is what I admit I was ready to take on – it could be seen as Sony trying to get out of the virtual reality market. It is a strange move to paint the future of VR as something distant only to announce a new headset less than four months later.
The other theory I will explain after this most recent quote, given to GQ on the day the PS5 VR headset was announced.
“We believe in VR and we are extremely happy with the results with this PlayStation VR and we think that we will do good business with our new VR system for PlayStation 5. More importantly, we see this as something beyond this next iteration that could really be very big and very important. “
This quote aligned perfectly with my second theory, which was that the PlayStation does not see its second PSVR headset as a revolutionary device that will deliver “the future of VR”. Again, perhaps a slightly awkward way of talking about your next product that you want to sell a lot of units for, but it is an undeniably astute point, which suggests that Sony understands how much its work with VR still needs to go.
Console peripherals, by their very nature, do not sell as well as consoles themselves. Even success stories like Kinect for Xbox 360 represent only a fraction of the general installation base in your life. It is enough to make a good profit as a side-hustle – or in Ryan’s words, “good deal” – but we all know that VR as a medium is meant for bigger and brighter things than home console helpers. Ryan’s quotes seem to recognize this and suggest that, even as Sony approaches the PS5 VR, it is planning future iterations that will expand the company’s position in the VR industry far beyond what the PSVR 2 can do.
The future of VR at Sony
This probably means a stand-alone headset of its own, and perhaps not so intrinsically linked to the PlayStation brand itself, but rather developed across Sony Corporation. However speculative it may seem, there are precedents for this; in August 2020, Sony Corp in Japan published a list of jobs to work on a VR headset “with a view to five years from now”.
That makes a lot of sense. After all, Sony is a multi-faceted company with state-of-the-art TV, cameras and audio products, not to mention the film division. All of these arms extend to VR in one way or another, and the real potential of VR lies not only in games, but also in productivity, fitness and cinema, areas to which PlayStation as an entity is not so closely associated ( although I loved the future of working on PlayStation).
I can’t wait for PSVR 2 (or whatever he ended up calling it). I can’t wait to play great AAA games with refined motion controls and superior graphics. And I am optimistic that you will have a healthy life, strong enough to support game developers who take risks. But games are only a small part of the “future of VR”, and it seems that Sony in general understands this. As a result, your VR ambitions can grow beyond the PlayStation itself.