Exactly a year after starting the project, Mediator Software has confirmed that the SteamVR Driver for PSVR 2 is finally ready for release, letting users of the headset play PC VR titles. However, for plenty of people, it may be completely inaccessible.
While the PSVR 2 is undoubtedly one of the best VR headsets when it comes to raw performance, the headset being exclusively locked to PS5 has made it a difficult sale for a niche market. That means that, if the debate falls between PSVR 2 and Quest 3, most people will choose the latter.
However, in a recent turn of events, PlayStation is bringing PC support for PSVR 2 later this year, which we think proves that console VR is not the future of virtual reality. But for those of you with a PSVR 2 already, you may be able to get ahead of PlayStation by playing SteamVR games with an unofficial driver.
The iVRy Twitter account has confirmed that, 365 days after starting the project, their unofficial SteamVR Driver support for PSVR 2 is ready to release. After some final testing, the Driver will likely be available within the next month, but there's a few major caveats that will limit even those who own a VR-ready PC and a PSVR 2 headset.
The first caveat is that users will need some DP-AUX emulator hardware to actually connect the PSVR 2 to Steam. Currently, this hardware is exclusive to those who support iVRy's Patreon, but according to RoadtoVR, the hardware will be available to purchase in the near future. However, pricing has yet to be provided.
This hardware is due to the fact that the PSVR 2 requires DisplayPort 1.4 and Display Stream Compression 1.1 in order to work, which the adapter manages to offer. Alternatively, the other problem is that the PSVR 2 doesn't support Nvidia cards, so plenty of people using the best graphics cards right now won't be able to experience PSVR 2 in its full glory, if at all. Only AMD RDNA, RDNA 2, and RDNA 3 GPUs are supported right now. Mediator Software states that the onus is on PlayStation for Nvidia support.
There's also the fact that the PSVR 2's motion controllers aren't recognised as an input device, meaning you'll have trouble there unless you have an existing PC VR headset setup. Mediator Software even told potential PSVR 2 buyers to pick up a Quest 3 instead on Twitter in January, stating that "PSVR2 on PC is for existing owners that don't want to purchase another headset, or those that particularly want a PSVR2 on PC, for whatever reasons".
In all honesty, we'd recommend waiting for the official PC support for PSVR 2 from PlayStation. This unofficial setup and stress is solely for those who either can't wait any longer to dust off their PSVR 2, or are hardware enthusiasts much like myself. However, even I refuse to pick up a PSVR 2, despite having a PS5 and VR-ready setup, until official support arrives.