‘UNDERDOGS’ PSVR 2 Port Won’t Get Multiplayer Due to Low Player Numbers

By
Scott Hayden
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41

UNDERDOGS (2024) landed on PSVR 2 back in March 2025, making the popular physics-based mech brawler available across all major VR headsets. While the game is slated to get full multiplayer support on Quest and SteamVR, PSVR 2 owners won’t be so lucky.

The News

Developer One Hamsa released the news via an Instagram reel this week that Underdogs won’t be getting multiplayer content on PSVR 2.

“Porting to PlayStation is a ton of work. It took months to port Underdogs,” said Game Director Dave Levy. “We are a really small team. We have a pretty small budget to work with and we really need to make every work hour count, so we were hoping to reach a lot of new players with this port, but that didn’t happen. It really bums me to say it, but the truth is that without more of you we simply can’t afford to add whole new parts of the game like multiplayer.”

While full multiplayer support is still in the works for Quest and PC VR versions, both platforms recently received an update last month that brought a multiplayer mini-game, called ‘BALLTAG’, which the studio maintains is “the first stop on the way to multiplayer.”

The single player roguelike is highly rated across PC VR and Quest, garnering both an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ overall user score on Steam and a [4.8/5] user score on Quest.

Underdogs was also awarded our Excellence in Locomotion and Excellence in Indie Development in in 2024’s Road to VR Game of the Year Awards.

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My Take

Here I go again, rehashing the same points I made in my recent piece on why Capcom isn’t bringing a VR adaptation of Resident Evil Requiem to PSVR 2. Every time I hear a veteran developer essentially say “PSVR 2 isn’t worth it,” it bears mentioning: Sony basically gave up on PSVR 2 right after its 2023 launch.

And honestly, I’m surprised developer interest in PSVR 2 hadn’t waned earlier. Not only has Sony not invested in its second-gen VR platform to nearly the same degree it did with the original 2016 PSVR for PS4, it has also entirely cut PSVR 2 loose from the PS5 console ecosystem with the addition of an optional wired adapter that allows users to play SteamVR games via a VR-capable computer. It’s contrary to the entire ethos of the closed console ecosystem.

If you own a PSVR 2, you might still be getting new games in the coming month/years—some developers have large enough teams and enough console know-how to make porting relatively straight forward. Still, I’d expect to hear a lot more developer stories like One Hamsa’s, as the player pool will only continue shrinking without strong support from Sony.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • PloverNutter

    Yeah Sony does not care about PSVR2 and there is simply not enough people who use one for them or any developer to really care to put their games on the platform. This isn't even the first time a developer has cancelled updating the PSVR2 version of their game because there is not enough people playing them on the headset. Vertigo 2 cancelled the dlc and level editor for the PSVR2 port for this specific reason. I also agree the pc adapter was Sony admitting defeat as that would be like if they made the PS5 play Steam since they aren't making new games for the system natively anymore.

    • NL_VR

      But this is verry onesided take.
      idk why underdogs underperform on PSVR2 but maybe because it was just released at the wrong time. There are also devs their games sells best on PSVR2.
      This and that are dead are so stupid. People wouldnt buy PSVR2 if it was dead. New games were not going to be released on the system if it was dead.

      • Leisure Suit Barry

        I bought PSVR2 last month and yet I know it's dead, it wad dead as soon as Sony revealed the price

        I bought it nearly half price and also 25 games, £450 all in for headset and games

        • NL_VR

          Good for you, 25 games it doesnt sound dead to me :P

          • Jistuce

            If it was 25 new releases, maybe. That doesn't sound like 25 new releases, it sounds closer to "I just got a Dreamcart and 25 games for five bucks at a garage sale!" Which isn't bad, but not a sign of platform health.

            I really haven't seen anything confidence-inspiring about PSVR2 in a long time.

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            A few were PSVR1 upgrades, the rest PSVR2

            Most of the games were in the region of £4 – £7 on sale

            I bought GT7 2nd hand, RE Village physical for £12.50 new and RE4 Remake for £12.50 new

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            Most were games released near launch, a few PSVR1 game upgrades too

            I might buy a couple more games over next few years but that's pretty much it for me

            Like an old console, it's worth buying for cheap and buying the games cheap to play, but also like old consoles, it's a dead platform

          • NL_VR

            So its dead when you even can buy games to it a few years forward from now?
            A dead platform doesnt get new games a few years from now. A dead platform wouldnt get new games this year.

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            I still think the Sega Mega Drive and Dreamcast still get the odd game now and then, are you saying those platforms aren't dead?

          • NL_VR

            So how many odd games will PSVR2 get this year? 1 or 2?

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            Xbox hardware is dead, how many games is that getting? Dead platform doesn't mean it's not getting any games, dead platform means the platform is irrelevant, it's on it's last legs

            You keep saying VR isn't for met, I bet I've played more VR than you over last 9 years

          • NL_VR

            But if its dead why does NEW games release? huh?
            Apparently your are not playing VR over the last 9 years, you see it doomed and apparently everything is bad and not playing? or do you mean you play and enjoy a dead way to play games?
            pretty funny. It doesnt matter how long you been in VR i know people using VR for as long (i have also) and they have only played VRChat so thats nothing to go by.

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            PSVR2 is doomed, hence I waited for a deep sale and bought the Horizon bundle for £294 and got around 25 games for £150, so under £450 all in

            Xbox gets new games every week, the Xbox hardware is still dead

          • NL_VR

            Ok but its not comparable.
            Xbox hardware is gone from many countries, PSVR2 you can still buy on all places it was released

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            Stadia was dead, it was dead on arrival . . . yet it still got games

            Dreamcast was dead yet it still got games

            The Atari Jaguar was dead yet it still got games

            The 3DO was dead yet it still got games

          • NL_VR

            So whats the definition of dead? i dont se the comparison.

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            A platform without a future

          • NL_VR

            So PSVR1 yes i agree.
            PSVR2 not yet. (its unfortunately so for everything console)
            Also when it “dies” the headset itself is still usable on PC.

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            PSVR2 will be lucky to get 1 or 2 decent hybrid games per year

            It will be mostly Quest ports/shovelware

            Dead platform, not even Sony makes games for it

    • Arno van Wingerde

      Not quite… the PSVR2 crowd is smaller and as a result, not all games will make it. Now look at the 25 best games on Quest2 and PSVR2 on uploadVR… the games differ of course, but altogether I would argue that the 25 best games for PSVR2 are – at least! – as good experiences as the Quest line up. This of course helped by the superior graphics capabilities of the PS5 and the vibrant colors of the OLED. I owe both a Quest3 and a PS5+PSVR2. Whereas the PSVR2 is more cumbersome in getting started, and I hate the cable, tiny sweet spot and earbuds, once in the experience is often better than Quest3. The latter wins for quick games and room based games and superior sharpness.

  • Octogod

    The issue here is not that PSVR2 has been abandoned. The issue is that the developer waited until after they sold thousands of holiday season copies to PSVR2 users last month on the spoken promise that multiplayer was coming.

    I don't care about PSVR2. I do care about developers flat out lying to get holiday sales, while they already have plans to not fulfill those promises.

    One issue here is that they used a porting partner: Perp Games. They're known for their VR ports, but often also for their dubious quality and never releasing updates. A solid example would be Madison VR, which has been unplayable on Quest since launch and where the creators redirect complaints to Perp Games. Every update on their end meant more costs from Perp.

    And I should say that I do feel for the developers. They likely thought they would sell more. They likely hoped the holidays would be the big selling season. But you can't make software promises on hopes.

    From the developer Mashunaut's reddit account:

    Those stats are wrong, but regardless, have you considered that our team averages 10 people, that is took us 3 years to make the game and that it released 18 months ago? Do the math. I'm not proud to say I'm living hand to mouth.

    REMINDER: Road to VR ignores that Meta reviews are available for purchase. Store rating means nothing when they can be bought and Meta can remove the bad ones for you. To imply it means quality is ignorant of an openly manipulated market.

    • Benjamin Räder

      I mean you are not wrong, but there are different takes on this.

      Yes, they broke their "promise", but i hardly feel sorry for the players. If you buy an incomplete game (same with EA titles or on Release purchases), than you are mostly a beta tester nowadays, especially with lots of content still missing. I mostly wait always a year, because then those games are often complete or atleast less buggy and also much cheaper.

      And after all, those developers have every right to act like this, because people dont really care. Most people dont have any patience to wait. They NEED the game NOW…

      Also a shame that the game didnt performed well enough. in my opinion one of the best VR Games out there.

      • Octogod

        I agree with everything you're saying on the purchasing and beta testing end.

        My only point is that we should not ignore when companies openly scam their users.

        Is Underdogs great? Yes. Did I wish it made much more? Yes. But did they make promises to try and generate sales, only going back on those promises after the biggest sales period of the year? Yes.

    • PloverNutter

      They didn’t sell thousands of copies during the holiday sale. It didn’t even crack the top 50 in the psvr2 games while it was 60% off. If it did sell well it would be getting the multiplayer mode. The devs have been up front about the game selling extremely poorly on the platform. They aren’t even the first devs to say how little games tend to sell on psvr2

      • Octogod

        The majority of VR games do not sell thousands of copies, let alone on PSVR2.

        The difference is that Underdogs PSVR2 launch marketing directly lists the game as receiving the multiplayer mode as of November 2025. It didn't say "if it sells well enough". They made a promise and broke it.

    • Leisure Suit Barry

      PSVR2 is dead. It was DOA due to the price

      I have no idea why people continue to live in denial

      • Arno van Wingerde

        Eh..
        Because the available games, fewer though they are are very much worth playing?

        • Leisure Suit Barry

          Dreamcast has playable games, but it's dead

      • Octogod

        I don’t have a PSV2, nor do I want one. This discussion is about ethics in game marketing.

  • Christian Schildwaechter

    I still consider Sony offering the PSVR2 PC adapter mostly a smart move, because it incentivised more people overall to buy the HMD, thereby also increasing the chance they might also buy a PS5 and games for it while spreading the development costs. But it also showed that the PSVR2 was way overpriced from the beginning despite the hardware being cheap to produce.

    Without the adapter someone might argue that the HCotM PSVR2 bundle being offered multiple times on sale for USD 350 was a loss leader for Sony, hoping to make back the money with more sales of PSVR2 games instead. But with large amounts of PSVR2 sold to PC gamers and the adapter temporarily out of stock, it is apparent that Sony still makes at least a small amount of profit at that price, and the extra USD 200 they initially asked for with the USD 550 launch price were a mix of greed and "how to shoot your own platform in the foot" idiocy.

  • JB1968

    This article is full of BS. Before PSVR2 had no support for PCVR everyone was shitting on Sony to have it closed to their console. Now mr.Hayden is seeing this as bad move LOL!

    True, Sony fucked up a lot during the PSVR2 release but I’d say 2025 was very good year in terms of quality game releases and good opportunity to buy the headset. I still wonder why there is so much negativity about PSVR2. One would say Meta is paying certain people for that.

    Also the fact that this game failed to sell doesn’t mean anything. Personally I wouldn’t buy it on any platform. Looks realy very average yet another indie roguelike stuff.

    The devs should understand it is much harder to compete and succeed on PSVR2 platform because the user base is looking for much higher quality games.

    It is logical people will wait for titles like MSFS2024 or Aces of Thunder and other than games like Underdogs. This is different than the Quest crowd that grabs any mobile grade game.

  • Leisure Suit Barry

    The PSVR2 fanboys continue to have their head buried in the sand coupled with extreme delusion

    Sony could literally announce PSVR2 is cancelled tomorrow, no more units for sale, all games pulled from store etc and the PSVR subreddit would swear to you it's because Sony is bringing out PSVR3

  • Paolo Minisini

    Uhm… why not just add a "crossplay" multiplayer?

  • Leisure Suit Barry

    I'm not interested in shovelware or mediocre to poor indie experiences

    I had enough of that during the PSVR1 era

    • NL_VR

      oh yeah right you only want the innovative AAA experiences got it.

      • Leisure Suit Barry

        Yes, AAA and decent AA

        Not 4/10 indie crap

        Had enough of those during PSVR1 era as I have around 140 PSVR1 games

        • NL_VR

          AAA and “decent” AA so you say.
          Then get the good games then whats the problem?, i only play the good games, and they are in VR :D

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            The VR crowd think anything in VR is good, just picking up a mug and placing it on a table gets them claiming VR is the future and the game is a 10/10

          • NL_VR

            Haha no thats so false statement its hilarious.
            VR gamers are critical.
            You talk about newcomers never played a VR game.
            Probably you 9 hears ago and you maybe got out of touch when vr games required more than just watch around and lift coffee cups

          • Leisure Suit Barry

            'OMG, I can open a door in VR, I can pick up a gun in VR . . .OMG this IS the future, 10/10 game'

            'bu bu but you don't understand, you're IN THE GAME . . . .flat games are dead to me now, Brookhaven Experiment beats any flat game like God of War. You stand in one place and shoot things. . . BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!! You're in THE GAME!!!!'

          • NL_VR

            Yes open a door, pick up a gun, its part of what make VR great.
            Or what donyou want? Push a button? One reason Firewall Ultra failed immediately on PSVR2 was because devs thought they could release a vr game with flatscreen mechanics. People laughed over all bad design choices