When the original PS VR headset was launched back in 2016, it was not possible to use it on PC, but the hard work of developers such as Mediator Software made it possible to use the Sony headset to play VR games available on PC. Sadly, the same may not happen with the soon-to-be-released PS VR 2, according to the developer of the PS VR compatibility driver developers.
As reported by Road To VR, the iVRy Driver developer commented on Reddit about the possibility of PS VR 2 being usable on PC at launch and even in the future. The developer thinks that Sony will encrypt the signals running over USB to prevent the headset from being usable on PC. Even if this doesn't happen, other issues will prevent PS VR 2 from being immediately usable on PC, such as the lack of a SLAM tracker for Windows, support for controllers, and so on. If the headset will ever be usable on PC, it will be in the far-off future due to the amount of work that will likely be required to make it work on anything other than a PlayStation 5.
It's quite possible that Sony have encrypted the signals (which all run over USB) to prevent non-PS use. Even if they haven't it would take a lot of reverse engineering (read several years) just to get an image on the headset. Then there is the tracking, which would need to be developed, as there isn't a ready-made SLAM tracker available for Windows (assuming of course the camera protocol was reverse-engineered). Then the controllers etc. etc. I would say it is very unlikely that the PSVR2 would be useable for PCVR within 5 years of its release. So, it would be a very expensive paper-weight, and by the time it was usable (if ever) it would be completely obsolete.
The PS VR 2 headset will release worldwide on February 22nd, alongside the PS VR 2 Sense controller charging station and select titles, such as Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Already available games such as Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village will be updated on the same day to support the new headset.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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