The launch of PSVR2 is slated for early in 2023, and as the appointed time draws closer, we learn more and more about Sony’s next foray into virtual reality.
Case in point, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s own Yasuo Takahashi and Kenjo Akiyama spoke at CEDEC (Computer Entertainment Developers Conference) last week. They highlighted several features we knew about, including the See-Through View mode, and those fancy new controllers. Still, they also spoke about the ease of porting PlayStation games, whether from other VR platforms or existing PS5-developed games.
Game development for PSVR2 uses the same SDK (Software Development Kit) as the PS5, which means that the process of porting games over should be relatively simple… at least, relative to the complex nature of game dev!
PSVR2 will also feature support for Unity and Unreal Engine, two of the most popular engines used in game development. In addition, a standardised controller interface and button placement should smooth the tricky process of adapting games from other VR platforms.
Rendering will be enhanced due to the PSVR2’s GPU, which features Flexible Scale Rasterization (FSR), allowing the free altering of pixel density on the fly, and increasing pixel density based on where the player is looking.
Developer environment tools will also be available, and applications like VR Trace will help teams diagnose issues in games automatically, and highlight the issue using capture and replay. Another, called Comfort Sample, will allow developers to experience an in-game horizon not matching the real world, or from issues caused by an incorrect field of view. This tool even includes a quiz that can help to teach devs which bugs cause specific problems, which sounds quite fun.
In summation, it seems like the tech behind PSVR2 has come a long way, and many different things are being done to ensure the process of transitioning other platforms’ games to Sony’s latest is as trouble-free and smooth as possible.
PSVR2 will be playable for the first time at TGS, so for those lucky enough to go, give it a shot and let us know what you think!
[source ign.com]