Astro Bot's lack of PSVR 2 compatibility isn't going down well with VR fans: "It should at the very least be a hybrid game"

Sony's secret best PS5 series is back for another bout, but after the first game in the series was a PSVR exclusive, PSVR 2 users can't believe the new game is ditching the virtual reality headset.

Yesterday, during the PlayStation State of Play broadcast, Sony unveiled the return of the beloved Astro Bot series, with a new entry in the wacky platforming series set to arrive on PS5 later this year. If you thought the new game might be coming to the PSVR 2, though, you'd be bitterly disappointed, because it's skipping out the VR headsets entirely.

Over on the PlayStation Blog post announcing Astro Bot, the comments are saddened by the lack of PSVR 2 support. "It should at the very least be a hybrid game with PSVR 2 support. Missed opportunity once again," writes one commenter. "No PSVR 2 support on this is a big miss. I would have loved to play it because to this day the first Astro Bot was some of the best VR game I played," adds another.

It's true - Astro Bot: Rescue Mission was widely seen as the PSVR's 'killer app' back when it launched, it was just that good. Hell, it's basically the reason I put down the cash for the VR headset's first model, and even if it is basically the only thing I used the PSVR for, I can't say I was disappointed in the slightest considering how brilliant Astro Bot was.

Then again, 2020's Astro's Playroom, a successor to the original VR game, eschewed a VR launch to be a standard PS5 title (and a pack-in launch title, at that). It's pretty safe to say that Astro Bot owes the majority of its fans to this more readily available game, rather than the original PSVR title, so it shouldn't be all that surprising that the new Astro Bot is missing out on a PSVR 2 launch.

But even then, you can see why PSVR 2 users are bitterly disappointed at not getting to use their headsets on a new game in a series that began its life in VR. Sony's support for PSVR 2 hasn't been brilliant of late, even if the PSVR 2 did receive a number of brand new game trailers in last night's presentation. You can tell just from looking at these comments.

Astro Bot launches later this year on September 6, and it has every cameo from a PlayStation franchise that you can imagine - except Bloodborne. 

Astro Bot is "a new beginning" for the PS5 mascot, and Team Asobi's biggest game ever with over 80 planets to explore.