We may be hearing death knells for PlayStation VR, as it's been discovered that Meta has acquired 43 US XR patents that previously belonged to Sony, filed between 2010 and 2022. This news follows months of stock shortages for PSVR 2, the brand's current-gen VR headset that's received very little support since launch.
ZDNet Korea originally found the news, as well as an agreement signed by the company transferring a total of 419 patents filed in various territories. Specifically, the XR ones are based in things like head-mounted displays, mixed-reality applications, and glasses types.
While the news from Sony's side of the market isn't exactly surprising given the lack of software and promotion PSVR 2 has received since its 2023 launch, it is somewhat surprising that Meta is so eager to buy the IP out from one of its biggest competitors. Reason being, Meta has also been making public backsteps in the consumer VR gaming market this year, closing down gaming studios, cutting back the Reality Labs workforce, and following up its Quest 3 devices with Meta VR glasses that don't have the same gaming appeal.
While this doesn't unequivocally spell out the end of Sony's exploits in the VR market, it does certainly suggest that an innovative PSVR 3 headset will be less likely to happen when the PS6 rolls around.
Even the broader design outlook of PSVR 2 is somewhat behind the times now in that almost every headset that launches has some standalone capabilities, not a display device tethered to a larger machine.
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