I have been involved in the gaming industry for decades now, and while my (our) first PS VR2 game still hasn’t been published, there are a lot of things I have learned over the years.
One of the most important lessons is understanding what the paying customer actually wants — and, perhaps even more importantly, what the enthusiasts and hardcore players want.
Something I feel a lot of developers and publishers sometimes forget is a very simple question:
Who are you actually making your games for?
When developing for something like PS VR2, you’re developing for a niche market. It’s a market where almost any game can fail spectacularly or become a monster hit, and predicting which way things will go before launch can be incredibly difficult.
The player base has different expectations, different tastes and different reasons for buying games. VR doesn’t necessarily have the same casual audience where you can simply assume huge numbers of people will buy your game.
Yes, there are enormous successes like Gorilla Tag, Beat Saber and others, but these are exceptional cases rather than something every developer should expect.
So, how do you reach more players?
More importantly, how do you satisfy what I consider one of the most important groups in a niche market: the enthusiasts who buy games every week — sometimes buying virtually every game that interests them?
Before getting into the list, I should make one thing clear: these are my own observations based on years of gaming, development, QA and talking with players. They aren’t necessarily the definitive answers to everything.
The points below are also not ranked by importance.
That said, I genuinely believe paying attention to these things can help your game sell better and build a stronger reputation within the PS VR2 community.
1. Replayability & Trophies
Add a full trophy set.
It doesn’t matter whether your game is huge or tiny. Be creative with your trophies and don’t assume they aren’t important.
And yes:
ADD A PLATINUM TROPHY!
Why?
Because you’re potentially attracting two different audiences: trophy hunters and regular players who simply want reasons to keep playing your game beyond the first few evenings.
If you aren’t familiar with the trophy-hunting community, you might be surprised by just how many games some trophy hunters buy. There are also players who will completely skip a game if it doesn’t have a Platinum trophy.
And please…
MAKE SURE THE TROPHIES ACTUALLY WORK!
Bugged trophies can turn a positive community into an angry one very quickly, and they can cost you potential customers.
2. Use The PS VR2 Features — They Matter!
If possible, focus on getting your game running without reprojection.
Native 90Hz or 120Hz should be something you seriously investigate during development.
For reference, you’ll probably know these as 90-90 and 120-120 in your favourite devkit.
Native rendering can make a massive difference to how a game feels in VR. For some players it can also help with motion comfort, while improving motion clarity and reducing the visual problems associated with reprojection.
Performance shouldn’t be something you start thinking about during the final weeks of development.
Plan for it from the beginning.
3. Resolution, Clarity, Focus & Colour
Don’t underestimate image quality.
More importantly:
Don’t treat PS VR2 as a quick porting target.
We’ve seen plenty of games that appear to have been moved from standalone VR hardware to PS VR2 without taking enough advantage of the considerably different hardware available.
A configuration designed around Meta Quest 2 or Quest 3 limitations doesn’t automatically make sense on PS5 and PS VR2.
Low internal resolutions might have been necessary on the original hardware to maintain performance, but bringing those same settings directly across can leave the PS VR2 version looking unnecessarily blurry.
Then there’s the display itself.
PS VR2 uses OLED panels capable of fantastic colours and very deep blacks. A colour profile designed around another headset isn’t necessarily going to look its best when moved directly across.
Take advantage of the hardware you’re developing for.
4. HDR, Brightness & Comfort
This is a complicated subject.
Brightness and HDR presentation can have a surprisingly large effect on how comfortable a VR game feels for some players.
Don’t automatically assume that maximum brightness equals the best presentation.
Give players good brightness controls and test your game at different brightness levels. Some players find lower brightness more comfortable, and it can also make mura less noticeable in certain scenes, even though it obviously doesn’t remove mura itself.
It might even be worth mentioning comfort-related brightness adjustments somewhere in your game’s options or introductory tips.
The important thing is:
Give players options.
VR comfort is incredibly personal.
5. VR + FLAT = HYBRID = MORE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
This is probably the point where some developers will start screaming at me.
But hear me out.
Some flat-screen developers seem to think VR players won’t accept a hybrid game unless everything has been completely redesigned around VR.
Meanwhile, some VR developers seem convinced that every VR game needs full VRAF interaction, individually interactive objects, room-scale functionality and Sense-controller interaction everywhere.
Do you know what?
If your game can realistically be made hybrid, seriously consider doing it.
And that goes both ways.
A flat-screen game that receives a VR mode suddenly has another potential audience. Likewise, a VR concept that also works on a television can potentially reach people who aren’t ready to jump into VR yet.
And no, every hybrid game doesn’t necessarily need to reinvent its entire control system.
There are VR players perfectly happy using a standard DualSense controller while looking around with the headset. Sometimes simply moving camera control from the right analogue stick to head tracking — combined with the necessary VR rendering and comfort work — can create an enjoyable experience.
If hybrid games help VR grow while also helping developers make money, that’s a win for everyone.
“But we can’t maintain the required VR framerate!”
Then plan around it.
Reduce resolution where necessary. Optimise. Adjust effects. Look at your rendering budget from the beginning.
And that leads nicely into…
6. PS VR2 Features: DFR
DFR — Dynamic Foveated Rendering.
This is one of the most important technologies available to PS VR2 developers.
PS VR2’s eye tracking can determine where the player is looking, allowing the rendering workload to be concentrated around the player’s focal area while reducing detail where it is less noticeable.
Used properly, this can potentially give you significantly more rendering headroom while maintaining excellent perceived image quality.
Instead of simply dropping the resolution of the entire image, investigate whether DFR can help you achieve the performance target you need.
Availability and implementation will naturally depend on your engine, SDK and development environment, so check the current PlayStation documentation rather than assuming every implementation works the same way.
7. PS VR2 Features: PSSR
Then we have another interesting technology:
PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution — PSSR.
This is specifically relevant to PS5 Pro and is still an evolving area for VR development.
No Man’s Sky has already demonstrated what PS5 Pro-specific improvements can potentially bring to PS VR2, and technologies such as PSSR could become increasingly interesting as Sony continues improving its development tools.
If you’re developing or updating a PS VR2 game, don’t ignore PS5 Pro.
Even if a particular feature isn’t practical for your project today, keep an eye on Sony’s SDK updates and documentation.
Things change quickly.
8. Adaptive Triggers, Sense Controllers & Headset Haptics
PS VR2 has some fantastic features, yet it’s surprising how many games barely use them.
Use the haptics.
Use the adaptive triggers.
Use the headset feedback when appropriate.
Obviously, don’t throw effects everywhere simply because you can. They should complement what is happening in the game.
A gun should feel different from another gun.
A huge explosion near your head should feel different from opening a cupboard.
Driving across gravel should feel different from driving across smooth asphalt.
These little details might sound insignificant on paper, but together they can massively improve immersion.
You’re developing specifically for PS VR2.
Make it feel like a PS VR2 game.
9. Think Carefully About Your Price
I’ve seen some incredibly bold pricing decisions over the last few years.
Sometimes we’ll get a direct port from another platform that launches on PlayStation at a higher price.
That can be perfectly understandable if the new version includes additional content, improvements or platform-specific features.
But here’s something you absolutely need to check:
What does your game cost on the other platforms when your PS VR2 version launches?
Launching your PS VR2 version at full price while the exact same game is heavily discounted somewhere else is not a particularly good first impression.
VR players notice these things.
You’re dealing with an enthusiastic niche community where people talk to each other, compare versions and compare prices.
Don’t underestimate your customers.
Personally, I think most VR games should be very carefully positioned around the size, quality, content and potential audience of the game. I would be extremely cautious about going above £29.99 unless the game clearly offers enough content and production value to justify it.
10. PS VR2 Upgrades For Existing Flat Games
Here’s something I would love to see much more often:
Paid VR upgrades.
VR players don’t necessarily expect everything for free.
Imagine buying a major flat-screen game for £70 and then having the option to pay another £20–£30 for a properly developed VR mode.
I would happily pay for that.
And yes, even if it’s “just” a hybrid experience.
Not every VR conversion needs to completely reinvent the original game. Sometimes players simply want the original game with stereoscopic VR rendering, head tracking, appropriate performance and the necessary comfort options.
There is a huge back catalogue of games that could potentially benefit from this approach.
Don’t automatically dismiss paid VR upgrades because you’re worried people will complain about paying twice.
Give players the choice.
11. Stay In Touch With The Community
This one is incredibly important.
Talk to people.
The PS VR2 community can be extremely positive and supportive towards developers who communicate openly.
Ask for help.
Ask for feedback.
Talk to other developers.
Talk to reviewers.
Talk to players.
You’ll find people willing to help with everything from development questions and PlayStation-related experience to assets, voiceovers, testing and QA.
The important part is communication.
If something goes wrong, tell people.
If a patch is coming, tell people.
If you’re struggling with something, don’t disappear for six months and hope nobody notices.
A small developer who communicates openly can build an incredibly loyal following.
12. THINK VERY CAREFULLY ABOUT YOUR RELEASE CANDIDATE!
Want to absolutely DESTROY your launch hype, sales and reputation?
Release an unfinished game without proper QA or testing.
We’ve seen far too many potentially great games launch in terrible condition, immediately resulting in negative reviews, angry players and videos from content creators showing everything that’s broken.
And here’s the part some developers don’t seem to understand:
Most reviewers will not review your game twice.
If I review your game at launch and it’s a broken mess, that launch review may remain online for years.
You can spend the next six months releasing brilliant patches and transforming the game into something fantastic, but when somebody searches for a review, what might they find?
The original review.
The original videos.
The original Reddit posts.
The original Metacritic comments.
The original launch reputation.
Your release candidate matters enormously.
Yes, bugs happen. Every developer knows that.
But there’s a huge difference between unavoidable bugs and knowingly releasing an unfinished product with a “we’ll fix it later” mentality.
Your launch version might be the only version many reviewers and customers ever see.
Treat it accordingly.
FINAL WORDS
That’s it for now.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten several things, and I’ll probably end up adding more points to this article later.
But if you’re developing or publishing a PS VR2 game, these are twelve things I genuinely believe are worth thinking about.
PS VR2 is a niche platform, and that’s exactly why the details matter so much.
Take advantage of the hardware.
Think about performance.
Think about image quality.
Use the features available to you.
Give players reasons to return.
Price your game sensibly.
Talk to your community.
And, above everything else:
Don’t waste your first impression.
You only get one launch day.
Make it count.