PSVR 2 on PS5 Pro: what benefits will the new PlayStation 5 bring to Sony's headset?

Sony has kept quiet about how PSVR 2 will benefit from the extra power of the PS5 Pro

(Credit: Sony)

• 👏 The PS5 Pro should make PSVR 2 games even better

• 🤷‍♂️ However, Sony hasn’t shared any specific details of how they’ll improve

• 😞 And we don’t know which PSVR 2 games will be PS5 Pro enhanced

• 💪 The original PSVR benefited from the power of the PS4 Pro

Sony’s PSVR 2 is the redheaded stepchild of the PlayStation 5 family, with the Japanese company continually overlooking its VR headset.

That happened again after the PS5 Pro was announced, as Sony made no mention of how its more powerful console would improve the PlayStation VR2 in its announcement blog post.

We know that the PS4 Pro benefited the original PSVR in several ways: increasing draw distances, frame rates, and the resolution of certain games. However, the improvements were limited by the fairly cheap PSVR hardware and the differences would vary between games.

The PSVR 2 will likely see similar benefits when used on PS5 Pro, though it would be nice if Sony could specify exactly how. Thankfully, we have some insight into how PSVR 2 on PS5 Pro will work, even if it is rather vague.

In CNET’s PS5 Pro hands-on, Mark Cerny said the Pro will allow higher-resolution games on the PSVR 2 thanks to its PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution technology, which will come to PlayStation VR 2 games in the future.

Horizon Call of the Mountain could be improved significantly by the PS5 Pro. (Credit: Guerrilla Games)

The PSVR 2’s OLED display has a resolution of 2000 x 2040 per eye, though many game run below the targeted 4K resolution the headset is capable of. According to an analysis on Reddit, Horizon Call of the Mountain runs at 63% of the PSVR 2’s native resolution, while a game like Pavlov runs at a rather blurry 40% of the headset’s native resolution. The PS5 Pro’s PSSR tech should help more PSVR 2 games hit higher resolutions, which would lead to a far more pleasing image overall.

Frame rate is also an issue on PSVR 2 that PS5 Pro could help correct. Not every game is capable of running at 90 or 120fps, including Horizon Call of the Mountain. Instead, the game runs at 60fps and uses a technique called ‘reprojection’ to double the frame rate. However, it creates a lot of ghosting in motion and looks jarring to many. Hopefully, the PS5 Pro can fix this issue.

There are over 100 PS5 Pro enhanced games available now that the console has launched, but only a few PSVR 2 titles are supported. Titles will need to be updated by developers to tap into the PlayStation 5 Pro’s power, but they may be reluctant to do so if PSVR 2 keeps being ignored by Sony.

PSVR 2 games that benefit from PS5 Pro

Kayak VR: Mirage is one of the few PSVR 2 games that run better thanks to PS5 Pro. (Credit: Better Than Life)

• 🗡️ Arken Age

• 🥽 CyubeVR

• 🛶 Kayak VR: Mirage

• 💦 Subside

We’ll update this list when more PSVR 2 games that benefit from the PS5 Pro are announced.

• Up next: 8K PS5 Pro games: every title running at the highest resolution on Sony's console

Last updated: November 11, 2024

Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.