Playstation VR 2: Sony's best VR studio no longer makes VR
The studio behind Playstation VR Worlds and Blood & Truth has teased a new project that has nothing to do with virtual reality.
Sony's London studio is considered one of the most innovative Playstation teams. In its twenty-year history, it has developed high-quality software for Playstation accessories, most recently Playstation VR.
The demo collection Playstation VR Worlds was the first VR experience for many PSVR users and was sold bundled with Playstation VR. In 2019, the London studio released the gangster epic Blood & Truth (review), a AAA glossy that may go down in history as the most elaborate and expensive PSVR effort.
In terms of VR expertise, among Sony's Playstation studios only Team Asobi can keep up, which delivered a VR milestone with Astro Bot Rescue Mission.
London studio's latest game is not a PSVR 2 game
Yesterday, London Studio teased a new, as-yet-unnamed project: a co-op combat game set in a fantasy version of London. The title is being developed specifically for Playstation 5 and comes without VR support.
It is said to be the studio's most ambitious project to date and one of more than ten live service games that Playstation Studios currently has in development. Depending on its success, the London studio will probably be busy with the title for years.
While the project is not a VR game, studio head Stuart Whyte says it uses tools from the studio's virtual reality era.
"It's designed to take full advantage of the PS5. But it's fair to say that some of the toolset that we're using dates back to the VR Worlds and Blood & Truth tech that we had on PS4. Because at the end of the day, VR games need to have super-efficient pipelines and engines," Whyte told Games Industry.
Sony has only announced one in-house VR game so far
It's a shame that one of the best and most experienced VR studios Sony has won't be developing for PSVR 2. Team Asobi and Insomniac Games, the studio behind the VR games Edge of Nowhere and Stormland, also seem to be busy elsewhere. At least Sony has not announced or hinted at anything to the contrary.
We can only hope that Sony still has one or two surprises up its sleeve for Playstation VR 2. Horizon Call of the Mountain is the only VR-exclusive game that Sony has in development and officially announced.
For the rest of the titles, see our list of all PSVR2 games announced so far. The launch of the Playstation VR 2 is scheduled for the beginning of 2023.
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