With PS5 just days away from launch you may be wondering how PSVR will fare on the new console. We’re here to share our experience over the last few weeks of testing PSVR on PS5.

PS5 will bring full support for PSVR thanks to backwards compatibility with existing PS4 titles made for the headset. And while you won’t see big changes in the PSVR experience out of the gate, loading times are a definite improvement. Bigger changes could come to games through post-launch patches; and there’s big potential yet for native PS5 games made for PSVR, but so far Sony has yet to confirm if developers will be allowed to do so.

Setting Up PSVR on PS5

Photo by Road to VR
Camera Adapter Required

Setting up PSVR on PS5 is the same process you’re used to on PS4 (all the same plugs in all the same places) but with one key difference: you must have the PS4 camera adapter for PS5. Without it, you can’t plug the PS4 camera into your PS5, which is required for all VR games on the console. And no, unfortunately Sony says the new PS5 camera will not work for PSVR.

Photo by Road to VR

Sony is providing the PS4 camera adapter for PS5 free of charge; head to this page to request yours if you plan to use your PSVR on PS5.

Supported Controllers

In order to use PSVR on PS5 you’ll also need a supported controller, which does not include the PS5 controller. The following controllers are supported:

  • PS4 DualShock controller
  • PS Move
  • PS Aim
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It’s a shame that the PS5 DualSense controller isn’t supported because it has some really impressive haptics that we’d love to see combined with PSVR.

Setting Up

Once you plug your PSVR into PS5 and turn it on, you’ll be greeted with a familiar setup screen which walks new users through fitting the headset correctly and getting positioned within the camera’s field of view. The first time you plug in a Move or Aim controller you’ll be prompted to hold it in front of the camera for a calibration of the tracking sphere.

Installing Games

The experience of installing PSVR games on PS5 is overall quite seamless. Once you sign into the console with your PlayStation Network account, you’ll be able to see your digital PS4 games in your Game Library and choose which ones you want to install.

Captured by Road to VR

The library will show which of your PS4 games are compatible with your PS5; if a game isn’t compatible, you’ll see a ‘stop’ symbol (🚫). Of 34 digital PSVR games in my library, only two weren’t compatible (Robinson: The Journey [2016] and Golem [2019]).

If you have a PSVR game on disc, it’s the same experience you’d expect on PS4: insert the disc to install the game before playing.

No New Options or Features

In case you were wondering, PSVR on PS5 doesn’t gain any new features or options, but you can expect the same adjustments you’re used to on PS4, including a software IPD adjustment (and the ability to measure your IPD via the camera), the ability to see the PS5 dashboard and play non-VR games in a ‘theater screen’ mode, and you can capture videos and screenshots of your VR experience.

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Playing PSVR on PS5

Image courtesy Camouflaj

Playing PSVR on PS5 is… well it’s almost exactly like playing PSVR on PS4 Pro; as far as we can see, any PS4 Pro enhancements get applied to VR games on PS5 (which are usually tweaks to improve image sharpness).

We tested a range of games across the whole lifespan of PSVR—including those using DualShock, Move, and Aim—and didn’t find any issues with gameplay, nor could we spot any obvious graphical improvements over PS4 Pro. Tracking doesn’t feel any different on the headset (which isn’t surprising considering it uses very same controllers and camera).

That said, there’s one expected but appreciated improvement: loading speeds.

Yes, that fast SSD in PS5 you’ve been hearing about makes a pretty big difference to the amount of time you’ll spend staring at loading screens in your headset. How much loading times are improved will vary by game, but here’s a sample of our tests for an idea:

Game – Loading Screen PS4 Pro PS5 Improvement
Iron Man VR – New game 0:42 0:21 2x
Iron Man VR – First cinematic 0:56 0:22 2.5x
Farpoint – Arrival level 0:35 0:18 1.9x
Farpoint – Opening cinematic 0:13 0:06 2.2x

These figures line up closely with Sony’s claims that PS5 has 2.5x the memory bandwidth of PS4 Pro.

The improved loading times will of course matter more to games which see them frequently, like Iron Man VR where it isn’t uncommon to see loading times of a minute or more on PS4 Pro. Chopping those times by half or more really makes a big difference to the pace of the game.

Blood & Truth picks up improved loading speeds but otherwise looks and plays identically on PS5 | Captured by Road to VR

The improved memory speeds also stand to greatly benefit games which suffer from ‘popping’ textures, and it’s possible that PS5’s extra power will be able to smooth over instances of stutter, but we haven’t found any obvious cases of this since PSVR games are typically quite good at hitting framerate.

And while the company has touted even greater performance gains in other areas of PS5—which could bring big improvements to PSVR games on PS5—we’ll have to wait to see if any post-launch updates ‘unlock’ the potential of backwards compatible PSVR games on the console, let alone if we ever get any native PS5 games for PSVR.

Capturing Videos & Screenshots

Just like on PS4, you can capture videos and screenshots of your PSVR experience on PS5 with the Share button on whichever controller you’re using. Unfortunately we’ve confirmed that even on PS5 these are captured at the same low resolutions of 1,280 × 720 for video and 960 × 720 for screenshots.

– – — – –

And that’s about it… for now anyway. We’re hoping to hear more soon about developer plans to patch PS4 PSVR games to potentially take better advantage of PS5, and to hear if Sony will allow native PS5 PSVR games.

In the meantime, do you have specific questions about PSVR on PS5? Drop us a line in the comments below!

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • PS5fan

    How is it affecting the new HDMI 2.1 functionnalities? (vrr, 120hz, etc.) The PSVR module is only HDMI 2.0 as far as I know right?

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    No PSVR2 = NO PS5 for me. I wrote “VR is on life support” when WMR and then HTC moved away from consumer headsets. Now, after Quest 2 and Sony’s CEO rethinking it’s VR strategy, I hate to say it, but as things stand today, consumer VR future is in the hands of the Evil One :( VR development would enter a deep coma, if Zuck for whatever reason decides to pull the plug.

    • Bob

      ” if Zuck for whatever reason decides to pull the plug.”

      Unlikely since Facebook is getting a monumental surge of new signups lately which will quite obviously continue for the foreseeable future. VR is now officially a way to flog the dead horse (Facebook dot com).

      • Yah…. let’s get some perspective.

        Facebook has around 2.7 BILLION users, and let’s say the sales of the Quest 2 reaches Mark Zuckerberg’s magical number of 10 Million users. Bear in mind, it hasn’t, and it’s a long ways off right now, but let’s just say it reaches that number.

        That’s only 0.37% of Facebook users. Just to get to 1% of Facebook users, they’d have to sell another 17 MILLION units over the 10 Million they have *YET* to sell.

        So.. .yah… not a “Monumental Surge” in anyone’s book, ever, in the history of EVER. VR is Zuckerberg’s pet project, and as of right now, huge money hole.

        I like VR as much as you do, I’ve even made my own VR games, but seriously, it’s a minor niche thing right now.

        • Bob

          Monumental surge means a massive increase in something within a set period of time which fits this case perfectly well regardless of the number of existing users. If we have to be all semantics about everything then perhaps “massive spike” would be something easier for you to grasp?

          Facebook signups have, by and large, plateaued within the past five years and again as it’s been stated already VR is a new channel for them to “kickstart” the phase of new registrations for the social platform. Surely you’re not going to runoff again on a little tirade this time about the term kickstart?

  • Evimonk

    Any obvious improvements on Dreams and Star Wars Squadrons? It was mentioned before that they have dynamic resolutions …so some scenes should be sharper. The same should be true of any VR game with a dynamic resolution (if there are many).

    • Abe

      Dreams has a buttery smooth frame rate on the PS5 when in VR. This is the only game that I’ve tried where the difference is clear. I haven’t tried Squadrons on my PS5 so I’m not sure if there’s any difference there. I haven’t even played Squadrons much on my PS4 Pro either though, so I’m not sure I would be able to tell if there’s any improvement.

  • Danilo Moura Silva

    Anyone that has tried video streaming from a computer to the Quest 2 can only hope that Sony would support a wireless headset for PS5. I know I’m probably just dreaming, unfortunately.

    • sfmike

      The CEO is more worried about his bonus than the future of VR.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        That’s bullshit, they just first want to get the PS5 out of the door, if they would have released the PSVR2 immediately it would have been overshadowed by the PS5 release itself. And I’m perfectly fine with them taking the time. Looking that their patent submissions they have some cool features coming for the PSVR2.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      I don’t doubt the PSVR2 will have a wireless headset, which uses Wifi6..

  • Nothing to see here

    For PS5 owners considering buying the PSVR, they will be faced with:
    No native PS5 PSVR games for up to two years (or more).
    Your existing PS5 camera won’t work with the PSVR (can you even plug them both in at the same time?)
    You have to buy at least one PS4 Dualshock controller and charger.
    The PSVR has really poor resolution compared to the current VR generation on the PC.
    Adding up everything, you are paying a lot more for a much worse experience compared to a $299 Oculus Quest. This is going to cost Sony almost all of its current VR market share and probably billions of dollars in market cap. It is a gigantic mistake no matter how you look at it.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Why do you think it will be ‘for up to two years (or more)’ before there will be PS5 PSVR games? I think Sony will release the PSVR2 by holidayseason next year.
      Yeah, it’s not really interesting if you don’t already own the PSVR, although it might still be interesting if you can pick it up 2nd hand or very cheap.

    • JP of GabbingAbout

      The dualsense controller works just fine, I streamed Resi 7 VR tonight, no problem.

      • MKwadrat Podcast

        It works in RE7 because the controller is not tracked in this game.
        But it won’t work in games with tracked controllers, for example Astrobots.
        So no, the dual sense controller does not “work just fine”.

        • JP of GabbingAbout

          Thanks for the schooling, @mkwadratpodcast:disqus :). Never too proud to learn. I’ll keep my DS4 charged for future use!

          • Simplex

            That up there was me from my podcast’s account and I am too lazy to te-log on my mobile.
            Thanks for being so courteous about being schooled, I admire it :)
            Sorry if I came on too harshly, English is not my native tongue.

  • sfmike

    Really sad that Sony doesn’t see a profit motive to quickly upgrade the PSVR headset. I think I will wait to upgrade as why bother as I play more PSVR on my console than pancake games.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Ofcourse the increase in loadingspeed, but also the PS5 will have a more solid framerate as even the PS4 Pro has. And there might ofcourse arrive patches which will utilize more of the PS5.

  • Sindred

    Hey guys. Thanks for this great article. So I take it No Man’s Sky’s VR will still be super blurry?

    • Rob Bateman

      Well No Man’s Sky is a tough one I think personally..
      I would expect Hello Games would want to be one of the first devs to push an update for the game using the PS5 tech. They have been relentlessly updating NMS. Hope they push Sony.

    • Abe

      No Man’s Sky actually looks great on the PS5! The edges are crisp!

  • Till Eulenspiegel

    Yikes! Looking at the picture of PSVR and PS5 together shows how much the white plastic had turned yellow on the headset. It’s going to happen to your PS5 in a couple of years, same with Quest 2.

    It’s always a bad idea to use white plastic in electronic devices.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      I agree with you on not having white hardware, but it certainly doesn’t mean the plastic will turn yellow as there a a lot of different plastics. Also we have no clue if the original owner is a smoker, which also has a great impact on white hardware turning yellow. But the white faceplates/controllers/headset is certainly a reason why I won’t buy the PS5 or Quest 2 on launch.

      • Dick Massive

        I wouldn’t worry about it. My mate’s white PS4 and controllers are still white. Just keep them out of direct sunlight and you’ll be fine. Also, keep them away from heat sources like central heating.

    • Dick Massive

      Modern plastics don’t yellow like they use to. I have plenty of modern white devices that are still white after many years, but past plastics had flame retardant chemicals in them, Bromine for example would cause plastics to yellow.
      Today, it’s UV light from the sun that can make plastics go off-colour, so keep your PS5 out of direct sunlight and it should be fine.

    • oomph

      Simple solution : Paint it to your choice 2$ . Sparkling or glowing paint , more fun.

  • That’s a bummer, I expected it to provide a better experience on PS5

  • BulKathus

    Is there any improvement in the audio quilty with the new tempest engine? Can I use a headset wirelessly in vr?

  • oomph

    Original PSVR was great & I dont mind its resolution considering it allows faster output.
    However connectivity is so primitive with so many wires & what not.
    All you need is to have is either a wifi/BT tech or a simple USB-C cable.
    Sony should also look forward to having latest tech i.e. holographic lenses to make the headset razor thin & projected display similar to laser projection TV tech ( am I asking too much)

  • Ryan M.

    Can you still watch 3D Blu-rays via the PSVR headset on PS5?

    • Abe

      I would presume so, but I have not personally tried it on mine. I wouldn’t see why not.

      • Ryan M.

        It’s been confirmed that you can not watch 3D Blu-rays on the PSVR when using a PS5.

        • Abe

          Interesting. Good to know.

  • So was Blood & Truth already patched and enhanced for PS5 and you just didn’t notice, or is the patch yet to drop?

  • Rupert Jung

    It’s shame that they don’t support the PS5 controller and the new camera

    • JP of GabbingAbout

      I just streamed Resi 7 tonight, my PS5 controller worked just fine.

  • Simon belmont

    No psvr 2 is no ps5 for me but pc vr in the future