Although it should not be as legendary as Arkham City or Arkham Knight, the future Batman: Arkham Shadow game, the second in the virtual reality saga, could convince many players to be tempted by a VR headset. A missed opportunity for PlayStation, which seems to have completely forgotten its PS VR2 headset.
What is Sony playing with its PlayStation VR2? Launched in February 2023 with a number of games far too limited to justify its purchase, the PS5 virtual reality headset has received almost no new features in a year. Sony is aware of this and is preparing PC compatibility to give new impetus to the product, while continuing to affirm that the PS VR2 is still in its plans. However, nothing is going in this direction.
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Latest example, the game Batman: Arkham Shadow, announced on May 1, 2024 (it will be officially revealed on June 7, during Summer Game Fest). This is a virtual reality title… unearthed exclusively by Meta. How could Sony miss this opportunity?
Batman Arkham and the PlayStation: a great love story
“ Gotham City is in danger. And you are the only one who can save him. Batman: Arkham Shadow, available late 2024. Only on Meta Quest 3 “, this is, for the moment, all that we know about Arkham Shadow. The game is a continuation of the excellent Batman: Arkham saga, undoubtedly in the form of a prologue (those who finished Arkham Knight know why).
For Meta, who co-produced the video game with his Oculus Studios, this is obviously a big blow. The Arkham saga is so popular that it could push many people to buy a Meta Quest 3 especially for the occasion (not just for that, Meta targets people interested in virtual reality, but who have not yet taken the plunge not). Obviously, the question of graphics power arises. The Quest 3's Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor is equivalent to that of a high-end Android smartphone. The graphics, especially in VR, will therefore be limited.
For Sony, which wants to be the reference in video games, miss out on Batman: Arkham Shadow is undeniably a failure. The Arkham saga is one of the great successes of the PS3 and PS4, the first PS VR headset was compatible with the mini-game Arkham VR while the PS VR2, thanks to the power of the PS5, is the only one that can offer high definition graphics in virtual reality.
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If things were going normally in Sony's VR division, Batman: Arkham Shadow would be a game exclusive to PS VR2.
This is typically the kind of title capable of convincing gamers to buy a headset, especially if Sony can guarantee unprecedented quality for an experience of this kind – (Apple, with its Vision Pro, is out of the game since it does not does not yet offer compatibility with immersive controllers).
Once again, the PlayStation VR2 seems abandoned. Meta succeeds in a big way with Batman: Arkham Shadow, hoping that the game will look like something. Sony sends a negative signal to gamers. It would be time to organize a PlayStation Showcase dedicated to future VR2 games, before headset users abandon it completely. The first PS VR, too, suffered from a lack of games.
