Sony is giving developers PlayStation VR2 demos at GDC

Sony is providing some developers with demos of its upcoming virtual reality headset, PlayStation VR2, at GDC this week.

Chet Faliszek, a writer who previously worked at Valve on Half-Life, Portal and the Left 4 Dead series, was given a demo of the new tech by PlayStation’s Shuhei Yoshida and Greg Rice.

Commenting on the experience, Faliszek said: “Had one of those VR moments today playing in the new PSVR2 hmd… You know where the world just feels different when you return?”

While it’s unclear what the demo consisted of, a GDC presentation titled ‘Building Next-Gen Games for PlayStation VR2 with Unity’ will be held later on Thursday.

In January, Sony revealed the PlayStation VR2 specs and the hardware’s first game, Horizon Call of the Mountain. The title is being developed by Guerrilla in partnership with new PlayStation studio Firesprite.

The following month, the platform holder released the first images of the upcoming headset as well as the new PS VR2 controllers.

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The headset, which doesn’t have a release window, features a design inspired by the PS5 console and new features such as a lens adjustment dial, so users can match the lens distance between their eyes.

“You’ll notice the PS VR2 headset has a similar shape as the PS VR2 Sense controller, taking on a matching ‘orb’ look,” explained Sony’s Hideaki Nishino. “The circular orb shape represents the 360-degree view that players feel when they enter the virtual reality world, so this shape captures it nicely.”

Nishino said that Sony conducted extensive testing to ensure a comfortable feel for a variety of head sizes.