PlayStation VR 2 may launch in early 2023, analyst suggests

Sony may release PlayStation VR 2 in the first quarter of 2023, according to a tech industry analyst.

Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at Hong Kong-based TF International Securities, tweeted that he believed the headset may start mass production later this year with a potential launch in the first quarter of 2023.

“My latest supply chain check suggests that the assembler and several component providers of PS VR2 will start mass production with about 1.5M units shipments in [the second half of] 2022,” he claimed.

“Sony may launch it in Q1 23, depending on the development schedule of PS VR2 game titles.”

He added that one of the main changes in PlayStation VR’s production is the inclusion of cameras built into the headset, something the first PlayStation VR didn’t have.

While the original PSVR used a PlayStation Camera attached to the PS4 to track head movement by following LED lights on the headset, PSVR 2 will instead feature cameras on the headset itself.

“The most notable hardware upgrade for PS VR2 is to start using optical modules,” Ming-Chi Kuo explained. “PS VR1 doesn’t equip with optical modules.

“PS VR2 adopts six optical modules (four 720p IR cameras and two eye-tracking cameras). Genius is the leading lens supplier. In addition, Genius is also the primary supplier of aspherical lenses for PS VR2.

“In the [augmented reality / virtual reality / mixed reality] era, I think Genius’s high-ASP orders of the aspherical lens, Fresnel lens, and Pancake from both Apple and non-Apple will be a new robust growth driver.

“Other critical suppliers of PS VR2 worth noting include Goertek (assembly), SDC (OLED panel), MediaTek (processor), etc.”

While there is no official release date for PSVR2, Ming-Chi Kuo is not the first analyst to suggest that PlayStation VR 2 will launch in 2023.

Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, claimed in April that the new headset will launch next year as a result of what he implies is a “delay”.

Sony said last week that it will have more than 20 games ready for the launch of PlayStation VR 2.

“Right now, there is a considerable amount of money being spent on partnerships with independent and other third-party developers to secure a considerable pipeline of attractive VR content at the launch of PlayStation VR2,” said SIE president Jim Ryan.

“That energy, that effort and that money will continue to grow as the installed base of PlayStation VR 2 headsets grows also.”

During Sony’s CES 2022 keynote in January, the company first shared official technical specs for the PlayStation 5 VR headset and also confirmed the name for its VR controller: PlayStation VR2 Sense controller.

Further reading

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Sony says PlayStation VR 2 will have ‘over 20 launch games’

SIE is spending "a considerable amount of money" securing VR content from third-party developers

It also announced the first PSVR2 game: Horizon Call of the Mountain from Guerrilla and Firesprite.

PSVR2 will feature 4K HDR, 110-degree field of view visuals with foveated rendering. Its OLED display will offer 2000×2040 resolution per eye and frame rates of 90/120hz.

SIE also confirmed the new headset will support Foveated rendering, which is a rendering technique that uses an eye tracker to essentially improve the graphical quality of VR software, by reducing the image quality in the peripheral vision of the user.