The PSVR platform is also coming to the PlayStation 5, but with a catch of working through PS4 backwards compatibility. This means current and future PSVR games would be emulated and treated as a past-gen title over the PS5.
Strangely, the PS5 was confirmed to not have a direct integration with PlayStation’s very own VR platform. Users looking to move their headsets over to the next-gen console would need a first-party adapter and existing PlayStation Camera. For upcoming VR games including Hitman 3, players would be required to get the PS4 version in order to unlock its VR setting. But it’s worth noting players can upgrade to the PS5 version for free, meaning there would be two versions of the game installed. A direct statement from Sony to UploadVR outlined their lack of focus on the PSVR for next-gen, adding no PS5 games were in the pipeline for the platform.
No Man’s Sky VR will also be getting the same backwards compatibility treatment for the PS5, with players needing to have the PS4 version first. But the console’s own hardware enhancements would improve the visuals and performance while it wouldn’t be a next-generation leap. On day one, No Man’s Sky PSVR users would also get every update and content as its most definitive version yet. Naturally, the past-gen version would receive faster loading times and stable performances with frame rate. It will also feel toned-down with less graphical fidelity as a PS4 game compared to its next-gen counterpart. The fidelity would further degrade over PSVR, which touts its own 1080 x 960 pixels per eye.
“No Man’s Sky is fully playable in PS VR on PlayStation 5 by virtue of its backwards compatibility functionality,” PlayStation wrote, adding past-gen buyers won’t miss out due to free next-gen upgrades. “Not only will previous owners of No Man’s Sky on PlayStation 4 be able to upgrade their game to PlayStation 5 at no extra cost when PS5 launches in their territory, but their progress can be carried across to their new console.”
For Hitman 3 on the PSVR, IOI Interactive previously confirmed the VR features would be exclusive to PS4 while it would let players revisit the entire trilogy and locations in first person. In PSVR, users would also literally become Agent 47 and take control of his hands for using weapons and interacting with the world in true 1:1 scale. Targets would also meet players in their full-sized glory, while hiding bodies and carrying out the dark deed includes physically performing the actions.
It’s still unknown if players would need to have both the PS4 and PS5 versions installed to play the same game seamlessly on PSVR or regularly.