We may be hearing death knells for PlayStation VR, as it's been discovered that Meta has acquired 43 US XR patents that previously belonged to Sony, filed between 2010 and 2022. This news follows months of stock shortages for PSVR 2, the brand's current-gen VR headset that's received very little support since launch.
ZDNet Korea originally found the news, as well as an agreement signed by the company transferring a total of 419 patents filed in various territories. Specifically, the XR ones are based in things like head-mounted displays, mixed-reality applications, and glasses types.
While the news from Sony's side of the market isn't exactly surprising given the lack of software and promotion PSVR 2 has received since its 2023 launch, it is somewhat surprising that Meta is so eager to buy the IP out from one of its biggest competitors. Reason being, Meta has also been making public backsteps in the consumer VR gaming market this year, closing down gaming studios, cutting back the Reality Labs workforce, and following up its Quest 3 devices with Meta VR glasses that don't have the same gaming appeal.
While this doesn't unequivocally spell out the end of Sony's exploits in the VR market, it does certainly suggest that an innovative PSVR 3 headset will be less likely to happen when the PS6 rolls around.
Even the broader design outlook of PSVR 2 is somewhat behind the times now in that almost every headset that launches has some standalone capabilities, not a display device tethered to a larger machine. That's certainly the case for the Steam Frame, which Valve has launched in the last month. Still, PSVR 2 sits atop our best VR headset for gaming leaderboard thanks to its excellent display quality, feature set, and all-round gaming-oriented design.
When PSVR 2 launched, it was received very well by critics and early adopters, but its high price was a note of controversy that arguably swayed public opinion about it. Now, following various price changes on both sides of the market, PSVR 2 is more affordable than the Meta Quest 3 and 3S 256GB model. Unfortunately, stock levels have been low for a while now, which means if you can find Sony's headset available to buy online, it'll either be pre-owned and refurbished or be more expensive.
For a while, following the launch of its PC adapter, PSVR 2 did see a surge of popularity and a second lease of life with players, but since its main appealing features like headband haptic feedback and foveated rendering were only available on PS5, it likely lost out to more PC-oriented competition. It also didn't help that the process for linking the headset to PC was fairly complex and limited to a USB-C connection. Since then, Sony has pulled back from its output on PC both in games and hardware, so it's no surprise there's been little chatter about the headset's PC performance.
There's no confirmation from PlayStation that PSVR 2 production has ceased, but when price levels go up on a product, it does usually suggest there's less supply than there used to be.
PSVR 2 has only ever had one bundle, the Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle, which it launched with. Since then, it hasn't had any first-party games to support it and an ever-shrinking collection of VR games in the PS Plus library.
Looking to spruce up your VR loadout? Take a look at the best Meta Quest accessories.
