Daily Briefing: Wednesday 5th January

Sony reveal PSVR2 specs amid pledge to advance gaming

Sony Interactive Entertainment finally revealed some details on the new piece of hardware during their CES 2022 keynote earlier this week. The company's next generation of VR headset has admittedly been knocking about for quite a while in rumour form, but it is now confirmed to be called PlayStation VR2, while its new controller is the PlayStation VR 2 Sense Controller, presumably in an attempt to link up with the PS5's DualSense controller naming conventions. Sony also announced their first PSVR2 game - Horizon: Call of The Mountain - which is a collaborative effort between Guerrilla Games and the recently acquired Firesprite.

• So, how about those specs? We love a good mix of numbers and letters with our gaming announcements and Sony were all too happy to provide with the PSVR2 reveal. The headset will feature 4K HDR with a 110-degree field of view, on an OLED display with resolutions of 2000x2040 in each eye and 90/120hz framerates. PSVR2 will also feature inside-out tracking enabled by cameras within the headset itself, eliminating the need for external cameras as per previous iterations of VR tech. It also has eye tracking and a single cord, making it a much more streamlined offering than its predecessor. No word on a price or a release date yet, though.

Halo is making Splitgate more popular on PlayStation, devs will take that action

Halo Infinite has been out in the world for a while now and, as one of the biggest (and only) significant Xbox console exclusives in recent years, things are going pretty well. It's also a rather good game in its own right, which means its exclusivity may have a bit of additional sting for PlayStation fans. Luckily, there are quite a few things like Halo kicking about at the moment, like portal-shooter Splitgate. According to developers 1047 Games, their F2P offering has actually been doing better on PlayStation since Halo Infinite released over on Xbox.

• This plays into something the studio, and particularly CEO Ian Proulx, have been saying for a while now. A lot of people had a lot of good things to say about Splitgate when it successfully relaunched last year (its top-notch gunplay and portal integration make for a frantically fun shooter) but there was a bit of concern that its time in the sun would only last until Halo stole it back. 1047 were steadfast in their belief that having another high-profile arena shooter on the market would actually help Splitgate, rather than cannibalise its userbase. Proulx recently said “I’m actually glad [Halo Infinite] is out. I honestly think that, in the long run, Halo Infinite and Splitgate will help each other. I think that there’s just so much noise and so many battle royales right now, and [these two games] are bringing people over to the arena shooter genre.” So there you go.

Halo Infinite's wonky samurai event is back but it's better now

Speaking of Halo Infinite, its controversial Fractures: Tenrai event is back but, thankfully, with a few changes to the format that annoyed everyone back in November. The Tenrai event first rolled out with an additional, free, 30-rank battle pass whereby players could play to complete challenge to progress the pass and unlock rewards. It was a solid enough idea, but it was the execution that annoyed players. Fractures: Tenrai is supposed to be a recurring event across the whole of Halo Infinite's first season and, as such, players could only actually level up seven times. Plus, the cosmetic payouts were just too infrequent, while all the fanciest loot was reserved for the IRL money shop.

• It...wasn't a great time for developers 343 Industries, who were already facing significant heat over Halo Infinite's stingy multiplayer progression system. They pledged to make changes, and it actually looks like they have done just that. Fractures: Tenrai now boasts more challenges that intersperse with regular, non-event missions, meaning there will always be something event-focused to keep you busy. These new changes mean that players should be able to complete the 30-rank battle pass in three of Fractures: Tenrai's five outings before the end of the season. Rewards are better, too, with a significant reduction in single-use items like XP Boosts and a notable increase in things players might actually want, like armour.