Why is there no version of VRChat for PS4 or PS5?

General Discussion
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This is something that has been bothering me for a while, I’ve always wanted to know… but why is there no version of VR Chat for PS4 (or PS5 now that PSVR 2 is coming out), wouldn’t that be better for the ‘‘game’’ since VR is still very niche in some countries and would that increase the playerbase?

This is something that bothers me because the other VR options are still quite expensive where I live, even the Oculus Quest 2 which is the cheapest I still can’t find a used one for less than R$2,600 ( it’s usually for R$ 2800 to R$ 3100 which is quite expensive here in Brazil ), PSVR on the other hand I can easily find it for R$ 1200 to R$ 1800 which is much cheaper than any other VR I could find here in Brazil and I really wanted to try VR Chat in VR, i’ve dreamed about this for a few years now but i never had the money to buy any other VR.

Come on… even Zenith: The Last City won a PS4 version in February (and also a Steam and Quest 1/2 version) and this game is an MMORPG with crossplay between all platforms, even if the VR Chat version for PS4 was paid or not compatible with all maps as it is in the first version of Oculus Quest I would still buy it because it would be much cheaper for me than selling one of my kidneys to buy another VR option.

Is there any chance of the game getting a PS4 version in the future? (which I think is very unlikely… but I wonder if the PS5 with PSVR 2 will have any luck)

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I think the ball for this is in Sony’s park.

But I can think of a few reasons it’s not happening.

Vrchat relies on third party community developers to make content for it.

Without the cross platform, and without the custom content there’s not much there.

And Sony would need to be willing to allow for this kind of stuff. Something they’ve been very reluctant to allow.

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Would be a nightmare to maintain.

You hav to download a crap load of assets everytime you play VRChat, the PS5/PS4 would probably buckle under the constant downloads and likely fill up in space pretty quickly.

ontop of the aditional development time to focus on a likely inferior version of the gam eit seems more logical to just make the game PC only.

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But Zenith: The Last City is a crossplay MMORPG and this game is on PS4, Quest and Steam VR.

Not to mention that Dreams (which is basically Sony’s Mario Maker) has as much freedom as VR Chat, it even has creations like Nintendo games over there and this game is on PS4.

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But there are other games that do just that on PS4.

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Zenith and Dreams are not comparable, they both run all their content on a server that is streamed to the playstation - VRChat requires users to download all content they interact with.

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Just my UNSKILLED opinion.

If there’s enough public support behind it, there’s no reason they (PS/VRC) can’t figure out how to make it work and iron out any problems that arise.

I assume It would increase their income as well on the account of no one but the users paying vrchat.

If there is not enough support on a platform it could be a bad idea to develop for it, However, developing for a platform could bring support to it.

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There’s a ton of reasons for this-- but the easy one is thus: UGC!

User generated content (UGC) is a huge boon and is what makes VRChat great. In almost all instances, every single model, texture, and most shaders have been authored by users of VRChat. Our community gets to build all of their content in industry-standard development tools.

Obviously this has huge advantages, but also has some downsides. For one, do you know how you have to build an avatar twice, if you want full compatibility? Once for PC, then again for Quest?

Every avatar/world creator who wants to have their content seen by all VRChat users has to build for both platforms, and even do some extra optimization (if they’re doing it right) for Quest. If you only build for PC and not for Quest, then your content only gets seen on PC…

Well, PS4’s another build and optimization cycle. And so is PS5. And so is XBox and iPhone and Switch and etc etc etc*.

Additionally, you can’t just shove a PC avatar or world onto a PS4-- it isn’t about the power, it’s about compatibility. As an example, when you make a Quest avatar, you have to switch to the Android “build” in Unity, right? Well, that changes the whole process of how an asset is packed up. It’s totally different from PC. The same goes for all those different platforms-- they all expect a different format. (Slightly more technical detail: It’s mostly shaders, but eh.)

Anyways, there’s other reasons, but these are the BIG ones. We want to get on as many platforms as we can, but porting VRChat (the application) is just one small piece of the puzzle. The content is the real challenge.

* This does not mean we’re coming to these platforms, and this is not a platform announcement. Just for context. :smiley:

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I think the PS4 has enough power to handle VR Chat, I mean… it already runs some games like Zenith: The Last City and Moss with a much higher graphic quality than the Oculus Quest 2, but still… wouldn’t it be a simple solution just bring the Quest version to the PS4 instead of the PC version?, so both versions could share assets without too much trouble. (and the PS5 could have a port of the PC version without any problems, it has plenty of hardware for that)

And on the UGC issue, if Dreams can have fan-created content and even third-party assets on PS4 and PS5 I don’t know why it would be a problem for VR Chat.

Seriously, I think they are missing out on a pretty big opportunity leaving PS4 and PS5 aside considering that PSVR is one of the most affordable and most famous VRs devices, I would buy for PS5 even if it was paid.

I think it would be worth the effort to bring it to PS4 or at least PS5 with the upcoming PSVR 2. There’s a good reason we see a lot of VR games coming out for PSVR even today, Moss: Book II released this year and it was even a PSVR exclusive even though the first game came out for PC and Quest, there are still a lot of people who have only PSVR as their only VR option and many who are eagerly awaiting PSVR 2, there is simply too much audience here to ignore.

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It isn’t about power, it’s more like trying to load a XBOX disc into a Playstation. Sure, the disc fits, but the Playstation has no idea what to do with the content.

Dreams content is built within the Dreams application, so it doesn’t have to be “built” (if you know what “compiling code” is, its very similar). VRChat user content is built in Unity, which means it has TONS of freedom, but it has to be “built” and packed up for the platform you’re building it for. Dreams and VRChat are very different from a technical viewpoint.

Trust me, if we could put VRChat on every platform with a button-press, we’d slap that button immediately. But there’s challenges. :slight_smile: Nobody’s saying it isn’t worth it!

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That’s so obvious. I’m embarrassed.
Informative and satisfactory. Thank you for your time!

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I’m going to butt in here because I’m not sure I quite get it, I understood that porting the PC version would be quite a challenge for you guys, but what exactly would stop from porting the more limited version made for the Oculus Quest to the PS4 for example?, after all, the Oculus Quest is basically a ‘‘VR Console’’, it even has its own store and its own restrictions and I’m not just talking about hardware, so it’s… I really don’t understand that part.

Btw, I know it has challenges, but I really think that ignoring PSVR is a dumb decision, even more considering that it’s one of the most popular VRs on the market and one of the most accessible to the public, It’s pretty crazy to think that it’s heading for the seventh year on the market and still receives games precisely because ignoring it would hurt the sales of several games because PSVR is still popular and like it or not, VR is still something quite niche and that not everyone has access or interest, I think the only thing that will really ‘‘kill’’ the PSVR is the PSVR 2, which doesn’t even have a release date and is already drawing a lot of attention and honestly, it’s going to be pretty disappointing not to see VR Chat on PSVR 2 and I say that as someone who used to play it on PC.

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I’ll just quote myself here-- the answer remains the same!

Also, “ignored” is a strong word. We aren’t ignoring new platforms at all. We are paying very close attention.

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if the fragmentation between PC and Quest is any indication, you’re going to end up with a lot of content not compatible with PSVR AND PSVR2 because the people who created that content don’t want to go through the hassle of porting it over, especially if it’s a system they’ll never use it on.

On top of that, you’ve got the issue of Unity itself to deal with. Android(Quest) and PC platform support come with the free version of unity, so anyone with a decent enough PC can create content for those platforms. You have to get Sony’s permission for PS4/PS5 platform support. Unless they can make some sort of deal with Unity, why are they going to release VRChat on a system that most of their users couldn’t even get access to the tools for?

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For most users just uploading for PC AND Quest is enough of a hassle. Me doing that too i can say it introduces tons of additional time and work for only these 2. If i would only upload to PC it would already save me so much time.

That being said tons of people might not even upload for an additional platform besides the current 2. So you might end up with even less content than the Quest already has. Then we get the required developer license for Playstation into play and the possible numbers of people uploading for that platform will shrink drastically again.

And no you can’t just take the PC or Quest version and slap that into Playstation/xbox. You would just end up with all content being broken on Playstation. As tupper already said: you can’t just slap a xbox disc into a Playstation, which would be similar in this case to this.

As unfortunate this is, but you most likely will have to buy another VR system. I don’t see how VRChat will get onto Playstation except if they suddenly start selling PCs themselves lol

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But they made a Quest version, which is far inferior to the PC version.

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I always wanted vrchat on switch after seeing vr mode in zelda Nintendo Joy-Con in Virtual Reality Steam VR - Tutorial - YouTube

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I would love that, VR Chat on the Switch would be awesome, even without VR mode, just being able to move your hands with the JoyCons or explore other worlds in handheld mode would be amazing.

But if they didn’t even bring it to the PS4 that has a VR device even with people asking for years I really doubt they will bring it to the Switch.

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I was curious about the user generated content over on PS4

For “Dreams” on PS4 it looks like all content creation can or is done on the console inside the game

Quite different from just using regular 3d models and such via Unity.

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i get your point but at the same time there are already games on ps4 and ps5 that allow people to make their own games within games and such, like for example fortnite. ofcourse there is a select few things you can use. but cloud streaming is a thing too if space would be a concern why not charge 70 bucks for vr chat in order for people to get space on cloud servers and uploading you own stuff doesnt have to go through playstation itself it could be uploaded through vr chat website sorry im just thinking out loud i might be saying something stupid :rofl: