Shuhei Yoshida on PSVR2: ‘I’m Sorry’

The recently departed PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has apologised for how PSVR2 hasn’t turned into a PS2 situation, where Sony successfully built on its first iteration to release an even more successful product. Speaking on the Kinda Funny Gamescast (via UploadVR), it appeared Yoshida had very little positivity to share about the headset, laughing when asked “what happened to PSVR2” and suggesting to move the conversation on.

Having moved into the indie space within PlayStation after leaving his position as President of SIE Worldwide Studios in 2019, Yoshida will likely have had very little — if any at all — impact on the release and first-party games lineup of the VR device. It didn’t launch until February 2023, more than three years after his big change in focus, but Yoshida still felt the need to apologise.

“I’m sorry I was wrong, PSVR2 didn’t become PS2,” he said. When questioned by host Greg Miller as to what happened, Yoshida laughed and responded: “Let’s move on with the conversation.” When asked to reflect on the hardware, Yoshida calls out his two favourite titles: Synapse and Before Your Eyes.

While the PSVR2 has its staunch supporters, the VR headset is generally agreed upon to be a failure. Sony has never shared any official sales numbers, and has only ever released a single PSVR2 title from PlayStation Studios in Horizon Call of the Mountain on launch day.

Its third-party support is still fairly strong, with games like Metro Awakening and Alien: Rogue Incursion ported to the device, but when they can be found elsewhere alongside better exclusives (such as on Meta Quest 3), it’s easy to see why PSVR2 isn’t viewed as the best destination for VR play.