Virtual reality headset PlayStation VR was released in October 2016, and to celebrate its fifth birthday, Sony has revealed the most popular games for the system.
In a birthday blog post, Sony details the top games for the PlayStation add-on, ranking them both globally and in each of its major regions – Europe, North America, and Japan.
Worldwide, the top five VR games are Rec Room, a social space with mini-games; rhythm action smash Beat Saber; the PlayStation VR Worlds five-game compilation; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, and Resident Evil 7 biohazard.
In Europe, the top five is identical – although Beat Saber and PlayStation VR Worlds swap position – while North America’s favourites are Rec Room, Beat Saber, Skyrim VR, Job Simulator, and shooter Firewall: Zero Hour.
Japan, meanwhile, favoured Resident Evil 7 most of all, followed by Skyrim VR, PlayStation VR Worlds, Beat Saber, and driving sim Gran Turismo Sport.
While far from the most demanding or impressive VR experience, Rec Room’s global success is likely down to the fact that it is both free, and can be played without VR, opening its potential user base up tremendously.
The PSVR headset sold over 5million units by January 2020. While much of the buzz surrounding the existing unit may have died down, Sony also highlights that there are plenty of games still coming to the hardware, citing “games in development such as Moss: Book II, Wanderer, After the Fall, Humanity, Puzzling Places, Zenith: The Last City and more”.
Sony announced it was working on “a next generation VR system” in March 2021, designed to work with PS5 and connecting to the console using only one cable, rather than the multiple cords of the current model. While the unit itself hasn’t been revealed yet, Sony has shown off the redesigned controllers it will use, while also saying it wants to step away from dedicated VR experiences in favour of hybrid games that offer optional VR.
Although unconfirmed, the still-unnamed PSVR 2 is rumoured to launch around Christmas 2022.
In other news, RuneScape developer Jagex has taken strong measures to clamp down on the real-world trade of in-game resources, including removing items from players’ inventories, banning accounts, and the wholesale replacement of its PvP systems.
The post As PlayStation VR turns five, Sony reveals most popular PSVR games appeared first on NME.
