An Enhanced Feature Of The PlayStation 5 Pro Is Seemingly Coming To An End
Fans of Sony's mixed-reality headset, your days may be numbered. Sony VR, originally announced in March 2014 with the PlayStation 4 (the PS5 version, VR2, launched in February 2023), was the company's foray into virtual/augmented reality, but U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records suggest the company is unloading many of its patents to social media giant Meta. This news may not surprise skeptics who didn't buy into the tech hype around Sony's VR, though fans may be saddened to learn it could spell trouble for the VR 3.
ZDNet Korea reports that trademark records show Sony has sold 43 patents to Meta, all related to VR tech. The agreement began in December 2025, and over 400 global patents are set to shift between the two companies. This includes 180 U.S. patents, while the other 239 are filed in regions such as Europe, Korea, China, and Japan.
Despite the PlayStation 5 Pro delivering some hardware improvements for the VR2, the latest news says little about the device's lifespan. To make matters worse, Sony has been quiet about the VR2 overall, and there have been few new first-party games for several months now. Ultimately, this news may help Meta, but those expecting the rumored VR3 may be holding their breath. Even if we found VR to be one reason to choose a PlayStation 5 over a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation VR may be heading in the same direction as the PlayStation 2 Network Adapter.
Was the PSVR2 a flop?
With Sony selling over 400 of its global VR patents to Meta, rumors are already circulating that plans for the VR3 are up in smoke. However, this news may also affect owners of the second-generation headset, as Sony is unlikely to continue developing first-party VR titles. Launched in February 2023 at $549.99, the PlayStation VR2 generated high hopes, but a couple of issues marred its success.
Along with the price turning away customers at the door, the lack of backward compatibility with previous-generation VR titles did little to boost sales. So while critics noted that the PSVR2 was indeed more powerful than its PS4 predecessor, estimates put PSVR2 sales between 2.5 and 3.5 million. In comparison, the original PlayStation VR sold over 5 million units. For what it's worth, BGR also found it suspicious that Sony bragged about selling 600,000 units in the first six weeks of release, months after that period had already passed.
After that 600,000 sales figure, Sony stayed quiet about how the machine was doing for some time, though Bloomberg noted the company halted production of VR2 units as it failed to sell its surplus inventory. In 2024, Sony expanded the capabilities of the VR2 to support PCs, but many still saw it as the company further abandoning the device. However, the VR2 is currently still listed on PlayStation Direct, though users have the option to "Explore" rather than Add to Cart.