Sony’s first big accessory for the PlayStation 5, the PlayStation VR 2, is coming on Feb. 22, 2023, with preorders already underway. It also costs more than the PlayStation 5 itself. Yeah, you read right: The PSVR 2 costs $550. It’s expensive, but if you’re looking for the next big virtual reality gaming headset, it could be the one you want, rather than waiting for the Meta Quest 3 or Apple’s expected device. We have one already and have been setting it up.

Sony has a whole FAQ library for tips and advice on the PSVR 2, which you should reference and dive into. Below are additional observations based on our unboxing, along with our hands-on experiences with several launch games from last fall. Our full review is coming soon, but for now we can help with all the other details based on our fall impressions, our recent unboxing and Sony’s existing FAQ documents.

What’s in the box?

The PSVR 2 retail package has a cabled headset, a pair of Sense controllers, a pair of earbuds that connect to a headphone jack on the headset and a USB-C-to-A cable for charging the controllers and to initially pair to the PS5. A $50 charging dock, which can optionally charge up both your controllers at once, is sold separately.

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You need a PS5 to use it

The PSVR 2 isn’t a stand-alone, self-contained headset like Meta’s Quest 2 (also known as the Oculus Quest 2) or Quest Pro. That means you’ll need to tether it to a PlayStation 5 (and own a PS5) to use it. 

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The PlayStation VR 2 looks, in a lot of ways, like the headset we wanted for the PS5 all along. It’s a long-awaited update to the PlayStation VR that Sony released for the PlayStation 4 back in 2016: A new design with a color scheme that matches the PS5, and a headband-type visor that’s similar to but smaller than Sony’s first PSVR. The high-res, vibrating, camera-equipped, eye-tracking capabilities of Sony’s second-gen PlayStation headset look like they fit the top-end specs anyone would dream of. However, the new PSVR 2 isn’t automatically backward-compatible with all the older PSVR games — the games will need to be updated by their developer in order to work.

Based on our hands-on time, the PSVR 2 works much like other VR headsets, but with greatly improved display technology, eye tracking and advanced vibrating haptics and triggers in the controllers and headset that make virtual objects feel more convincing.

The VR headset’s eye tracking also enables foveated rendering, a technology that focuses only on where the fovea of the eye is looking to maximize resolution, getting more graphics punch with fewer pixels. (Dominic Mallinson, Sony’s PlayStation head of R&D, suggested eye tracking could be likely back in a 2019 conversation with CNET.)

PSVR 2 can scan your room, live-broadcast VR gaming

Passthrough cameras on the headset work like cameras on the Quest 2 and other VR headsets, showing the real world in your headset. The headset will also “mesh” your physical space, scanning walls, floors and obstacles like chairs and desks to get a clear sense of play space. It can create a boundary you can play in.

The meshing part is particularly interesting, because it’s something AR headsets and mixed-reality headsets do. It means the PSVR 2 could, theoretically, also have some mixed reality experiences like the Quest 2 is already playing with, although Sony hasn’t announced anything on that front yet.

One unique feature is a live broadcast mode, which will use the PS5’s TV-mounted camera to record yourself overlaid with footage from your live gameplay into a single stream. Mixed reality livecasting tools have been emerging for Quest 2, but no game console has ever had this feature before.

There’s a cinematic mode plus a VR mode

Sony also details two display modes for the headset: one, for VR, will display at 2,000×2,040 pixels per eye in HDR, at 90Hz or 120Hz. A 2D “cinematic mode,” much like what the original PSVR can do, plays movies and 2D games at 1,920×1,080 resolution in HDR at either 24Hz, 60Hz or 120Hz.

Headset specs:

• OLED displays, with 2,000×2,040-pixel resolution per eye, 90Hz and 120Hz frame rates
• 110-degree field of view
• Eye tracking and foveated rendering
• Adjustable lens separation
• In-headset vibration
• 3D audio
• Built-in microphone and audio-out headset jack
• Four external cameras for tracking
• Single USB-C connection
• Sense controllers with USB-C ports, Bluetooth 5.1, rechargeable batteries, 6DoF tracking, finger tracking using capacitive touch buttons and infrared, haptics and specialized haptic triggers like the DualSense controller

Headset design: Vibrations, eye tracking, moving lenses

Even if Sony’s PSVR 2 headset looks bulky in the photos, it’s actually a lot more comfortable than the Quest 2. An adjustable headband, similar to the PSVR’s original design, means it’ll tighten around the head like a visor instead of using an elastic strap to squeeze your face. Sony promises adjustable lens distance for different eyes and faces, too, like the original PSVR had. That type of fit worked really well for my glasses, and the hardware felt surprisingly light during my first demos.

The headset supports headphones with a standard headphone jack, and has one cable that tethers to the PS5 via USB-C, via a jack that seems to come out of one side of the headband. That’s a lot fewer wires than the breakout box needed for the original PSVR.

Built-in eye tracking promises to deliver better graphics, and possibly allow eye control and eye contact in VR games. Eye tracking isn’t common in consumer VR headsets yet, but the technology should be arriving on other mainstream headsets, and possibly Apple’s as well.

The headset’s four tracking cameras will allow movement in VR to be tracked without using a TV-connected camera bar. The tracking should work in a similar way to other VR headsets. It’s possible that the cameras could allow some pass-through mixed reality, too, blending VR with what the cameras see onto the headset’s display.

Launch games: Lots of options

Sony’s own exclusive, Horizon Call of the Mountain, remains the PSVR 2’s splashiest game, but other games have been announced as well. No Man’s Sky, which can be played on PSVR, is a confirmed PSVR 2 port. Also announced: The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution (yes, that is just one game); Resident Evil Village; Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge; and Demeo. Gran Turismo 7 will also have a PSVR 2-compatible update, and early looks seem pretty great.

However, some bad news for original PSVR owners: Sony confirmed that original PSVR games aren’t necessarily PSVR 2-compatible unless the games are specifically updated.

The games we know are coming at launch, or in the future:

• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Gran Turismo 7
• Resident Evil Village
• Puzzling Places
• What the Bat?
• Demeo
• Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge Enhanced Edition
• Moss and Moss Book II
• Firewall Ultra
• Creed: Rise to Glory
• Beat Saber
• Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
• Among Us VR
• Vacation Simulator
• Job Simulator
• The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR
• Pavlov
• Fantavision 202x
• Kayak VR: Mirage
• Rez Infinite
• Synth Riders: Remastered Edition
• The Last Clockwinder
• Tetris Effect Connected
• Townsmen VR
• Thumper
• Crossfire: Sierra Squad
• The Light Brigade
• Cities VR
• Cosmonius High
• Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue
• Jurassic World Aftermath Collection
• Pistol Whip
• Zenith: The Last City
• After The Fall
• Tentacular
• NFL Pro Era
• No Man’s Sky
• Before Your Eyes
• Song in the Smoke: Rekindled
• The Tale of Onogoro
• Kizuna AI: Touch the Beat
• Dyschronia: Chronos Ultimate
• Altair Breaker
• 2MD VR Football

Other questions we have