It’s that time again, when PlayStation reveals the top downloads for the past year. And it comes as no surprise that long-reigning platform champs Beat Saber (2018) and Job Simulator (2016) have again clinched the top two spots as the most-downloaded games for PSVR in 2021.
PlayStation released the list today, which shows off PS4, PS5 and PSVR downloads for the whole of 2021. split across North America and Europe.
Note: the list below represents paid downloads only, and doesn’t account for physical disc sales, DLC, or free games.
PSVR Top Downloads – 2021
| US/Canada | EU | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beat Saber | Beat Saber |
| 2 | Job Simulator | Job Simulator |
| 3 | SUPERHOT VR | SUPERHOT VR |
| 4 | GORN | Creed: Rise to Glory |
| 5 | Swordsman VR | Swordsman VR |
| 6 | Creed Rise to Glory | The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners |
| 7 | Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series | GORN |
| 8 | The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners | RICK AND MORTY: VIRTUAL RICK-ALITY |
| 9 | RICK AND MORTY: VIRTUAL RICK-ALITY | Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series |
| 10 | The Walking Dead Onslaught | ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission |
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As you can see, there’s a bunch of overlap across both EU and NA rankings, with ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission and The Walking Dead Onslaught making it into the top 10 of those respective regions. The latest list also looks shockingly close to last years. Without more detailed data to go on though, it’s difficult to tell exactly what it means.
A bit of speculation: much of the top 10 is essentially populated with the standard array of ‘must-have’ titles, and it’s been that way for a few years now. This may betray the relative stagnation of the PSVR platform, and could point towards good user attraction, but poor user retention. Not a single title in either section was released in 2021. On top of that, most PSVR hardware bundles have been difficult to find in shops or online, so it stands to reason that a small number of newcomers trailing in throughout the year have driven content sales.
Whatever the case, PlayStation is getting ready to release its next-gen PSVR 2 headset for PS5—possibly near the end of this year—which looks usher in a new age of console VR gaming for the company.
The upcoming headset’s specs are a massive leap in comparison to the first-gen PSVR, which was released in 2016. The newly dubbed PSVR 2 is packing inside-out tracking, eye-tracking tech, significantly higher resolution and honest-to-goodness VR controllers—which means much of PSVR’s game catalogue may not be backwards compatible. This might otherwise explain the lack of investment in high-quality exclusives over the past year.
On that front, Sony is already planning at least one big title: a made-for-VR game set in the Horizon universe. And if it’s set to be a launch title, it’s well positioned to take advantage of all the cool tech Sony is packing into PSVR 2.