Sony first teased the next-generation PlayStation VR headset early last year, but now it's finally official with a new name, new controller, and an exclusive high-profile game in development.
Writing on the PlayStation.Blog, Hideaki Nishino, Sony's Senior Vice President, Platform Experience revealed that the next generation virtual reality system will be called the PlayStation VR2. The new controller, which was first revealed back in March last year, is called the Sense Controller. And as you'd expect, a PS5 will be required to use them.
The VR2 headset uses an OLED display capable of both 90Hz and 120Hz refresh rates while offering a display resolution of 2000-by-2040 pixels per eye. The field of view achieved is 110 degrees. Four integrated cameras track your movement and location, which is combined with eye tracking, six-axis motion sensing using a three-axis gyroscope and a three-axis accelerometer, 3D audio, and Sony also integrated vibration feedback into the headset. It's not wireless, but only a single cable is required to hook it up to a PS5.
For the Sense controller, Sony integrated the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers found in the Dual Sense controller to offer "a much more visceral" experience. The controllers have a built-in lithium-ion battery, communicate via Bluetooth 5.1, and rely on a USB-C port for recharging. You'll find all of the usual controller buttons, as well as six-axis motion tracking, finger touch detection using a capacitive sensor, and position tracking using an IR LED.
If the upgraded virtual reality hardware wasn't enough to tempt you, how about an exclusive game set in the world of Horizon? It's a brand-new adventure called Horizon Call of the Mountain, and it's being developed by Guerrilla and Firesprite. It will be a story told using a new character and is designed to "push hardware technology, innovation, and gameplay" in the VR space according to Jan-Bart van Beek, Studio Director and Studio Art & Animation Director at Guerrilla. Sony isn't sharing release dates just yet, and classes this reveal as "only a taste of things to come."