Sony’s PlayStation London Studio, the developer behind PSVR exclusive Blood & Truth, is already at work on their next VR exclusive project, Road to VR has learned. Considering the timing and scope of London Studio’s work, we expect the title will target next-gen PSVR 2 and PS5 hardware.

PlayStation London Studio has been on the leading edge of VR game development from the earliest days of PlayStation VR. The studio was responsible for the PSVR launch title PlayStation VR Worlds (2016), a collection of mini-games which remains today one of the best introductions to the possibilities of VR gaming. The studio’s latest project was the PSVR blockbuster Blood & Truth (2019) which raised the bar on storytelling, interaction, and graphics on the platform.

London Studio’s Next PSVR Title

Blood & Truth concept art | Image courtesy Sony London Studio

Considering its contribution to the medium, it’s great news to hear that London Studio isn’t finish with VR just yet, in fact it may just be getting started.

While the studio hasn’t outwardly announced that a new VR exclusive title is in the works, Road to VR has come across recent job listings which confirm that studio is ramping up its team for a new VR title. All seven of the studio’s current job openings are for VR specifically, and several make it clear what’s on the docket (our bolding below):

VR – Tech: Game AI Programmer

PlayStation London Studio is looking for an experienced AI Programmer to join the Gameplay team, working on their next exclusive virtual reality title following the recent launch of Blood & Truth on PSVR.

VR – Tech: Gameplay Programmer

Working with creatives and the wider technical team, you will utilize your experience and passion for developing gameplay, realizing the creative ambition for our next VR title.

We don’t expect to hear officially about London Studio’s next VR title until the middle of 2020 at the earliest, but with the job openings describing an emphasis on “exciting combat focused gameplay,” it’s likely that the studio intends to continue with the shooter genre. Blood & Truth set forth a working formula, and its story conclusion left the door open for a new chapter; we wouldn’t be surprised to find that the next title is in fact ‘Blood & Truth 2’, but we also wouldn’t put it past London Studio to dream up something entirely new.

VR Ambitions

While PlayStation London Studio has a lengthy game development history dating all the way back to 2002, the studio has recently embraced VR as its central pillar. VR is clearly the main focus on the studio’s official website; snippets of text on the site highlighting VR development and another recent job listing make obvious the studio’s direction and ambition (again, our bolding below):

VR – Production: Production Director

Sony London Studio is leading the charge in building AAA VR games—our vision is to become the World’s Best AAA VR Games Developer—and, with our most recent release, Blood & Truth, we’ve taken a bold step forward towards this ambitious vision.

[…] You will develop and grow the competencies of the current production team towards our AAA vision. We are looking for you to join us with pushing the boundaries within the VR medium and setting the bar for the rest of the industry to follow!

London Studio’s Next VR Game Will Likely be on PSVR 2

Early PSVR ‘Project Morpheus’ prototype | Photo courtesy Sony

We don’t have concrete evidence that London Studio’s next VR title is being made for PSVR 2 and PS5, but there’s a handful of clues pointing in that direction.

First, the timing. Launched in late 2016, PSVR is now more than three years old. While it’s still a leading VR platform, the hardware—both the headset and the console that powers it—is starting to clearly show its age. With London Studio focusing on AAA scope, their development timeframe for a new VR title is likely in the order of one year at a minimum, but likely closer to two years. If the studio’s next big VR title launched in late 2020 or even 2021, it would need to run on a seven year old console and a four year old VR headset.

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Sony has all but confirmed that PSVR 2 hardware is in the works for PS5. As a first-party PlayStation studio, London Studio is in the ideal position to already be working on a game targeting next-gen PSVR hardware. Not only is the studio in the right place, but it already has an established history of working on PSVR launch content with PlayStation VR Worlds which shipped alongside PSVR—if anyone is getting early access to PS5 and PSVR 2 dev kits to build a launch title, it’s London Studio.

Further, more of the studio’s recent job postings allude to work on next-gen hardware and experiences (our bolding below):

VR – Design: Level/Mission Designer

PlayStation’s London Studio is looking for Mission Designers with a wide range of skills to join an experienced team of developers working on the future of VR gaming. As a 1st Party Studio our remit is to produce games which show the exciting potential of the latest PlayStation hardware.

VR – Design: Technical Game Designer

The team have already released VR Worlds and Blood & Truth and are moving on to the next big thing in VR – and we want you to join us!

Signaling PlayStation’s Commitment to VR

Image courtesy PlayStationpla

This isn’t just good news for fans of Blood & Truth and London Studio, it’s a clear signal that PlayStation’s commitment to VR is as strong as ever, if not stronger. Allowing an entire first-party studio to devote itself to AAA VR is no small investment, especially when that studio could just as easily be working on titles that address the much larger non-VR market.

This isn’t the only evidence that PlayStation is still gung-ho on VR either, the company is still focused on growing its library of VR content and aggressively marketing PSVR right alongside PS4 and PS4 Pro.

And while it surely wasn’t the primary reason that Sony acquired Insomniac Games—the veteran VR developer behind several Oculus exclusive titles, including Stormland (2019)—there’s a good chance that PlayStation will let the studio see what it can come up with on next-gen PSVR hardware.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Ted Joseph

    I am sold on Stadia, and cloud gaming is the future. I play Destiny 2 in 4K @ 60FPS. Looks and plays amazing, with very little load times, and no frame drops. No need for wires, consoles, etc. My space under my TV looks clean now. It is only going to get better from here, and will eventually provide VR/AR apps. That being said, I am still going to purchase the PS5 and PSVR2. I have had the best experiences on PSVR. Wont be getting Xbox Series X. No VR support, just a stronger PC system which Stadia already has.

    • Immersive Computing

      Very interesting to hear your Stadia experience.

      I’m about 1km from a Google server and have full fibre broadband, it’s tempting to try…

      • ArA

        Feck stadia, feck all cloud and streaming systems, i want things for myself….don’t u guys get it….this is what the big company’s want…full control…and monthly user subscriptions…easy money

        • ShiftyInc

          If you use Steam or Oculus or any online store, you can forget about owning anything for yourself. you already got baited into it then.

        • aasdfa

          lol yes lets always keep everything the same because were doing everything just perfect and its 100% scale-able to all future tech lol.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          Well, to be honest, if the network speed is fast enough to provide good graphics low latency, then I’m all for cloud streaming so I don’t have to invest a thousand dollar in a highend GPU which is obsolete in a couple of years.. Also multiplayer cloudgaming makes sure it’ll be impossible to cheat (except for using map bugs itself which can be fixed very quickly once known).
          Biggest problem I have now with things like dvd’s/bluray’s is storage shortage, there is only so much room in my home..

          • care package

            A $1k GPU obsolete in a few years? lmao. Just because manufacturers will come out with a newer version? Retard. I bought a $400 1070 3 years ago and it’s still playing games the same way it did 3 years ago.

          • Ted Joseph

            Thats not the point. The point is, Google will be responsible for upgrading. And they mentioned they will also be able to stack hardware to achieve things not possible on a console or power PC. I am having a blast with it.

          • care package

            Well good luck with that.

          • Ted Joseph

            “I don’t have to invest a thousand dollar in a high end GPU which is obsolete in a couple of years.. ” Exactly. Or a new console every few years.

          • Immersive Computing

            Had this, sold the lot to exchange store.

            Now use a NAS through powerline network to stream digital copy, works great on any screen in the house.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/63bbbc2aad69a47789162d6658d7d260e7cfd31b42927803cdb4b2119edf21d8.jpg

      • Ted Joseph

        I am sold. I have a pixel phone, an iPhone, a MacBook Pro, and a chrome cast ultra (came with the founders editions). The overall experience, and being able to just plug in my controller into my MacBook and go between my 75″ with chrome cast, and the MacBook is awesome. I take my controllers on the road with me when I travel, and it is awesome as long as I have fast wifi.

    • ShiftyInc

      Thats pretty good since the entire service is unable to provide 4K at 60FPS at the moment due to some tech issues that they mentioned before.

    • Rogue Transfer

      Bear in mind, that a cloud gaming future will eventually include inserted adverts – beyond the users’ control to avoid. Right now, they’ll entice people away from having their own hardware so that the cloud streaming service has full control over what they serve the user.

      Not to mention that your games won’t always be available if the service goes down or they may degrade the quality of service for older, less popular games or retire the games completely and you’ll never be able to play them again.

      • aasdfa

        this is all true however cloud computing things like games and other stuff is going to have a large positive impact on the future. just access ability alone, but eventually the hardware theyll use will be hardware thats only possible and affordable by this type of system. If we stuck with personal computers where everything has to be standardized and affordable to the target market, we will stay in this not as efficient era. things can get way more efficient basically from GPUS, to networking and more.

        The downsides you mentioned do exist but there are some great benefits as well.

    • Bamux

      Destiny 2 on Stadia runs at 1080p @ Medium PC settings and is upscaled to 4k.
      With the currently installed hardware it will also be difficult to display naive 4k for blockbuster titles, allegedly an AMD GPU works in the Stadia servers with the computing power of a Vega 56.
      Source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/google-stadia-games-are-not-running-at-4k-but-goog/1100-6471724/

      • Ted Joseph

        Looks great on my 75″ 4K TV. I went back and forth between Destiny 2 on my xbox one X, and Stadia on Chromecast Ultra, and the Stadia version plays much smoother (60 FPS), and looks just as good. Again, I have no allegiance to Google or Stadia, but I think that cloud gaming is the future, and I am sticking with my opinion at this time that Stadia is the best experience on the market for the price.

    • care package

      Ok how much is Google paying you. As if a game console makes space under a TV ‘not’ look clean. Please. Xcloud works better and it’s not a rip off. I’ll take the console under the TV if it means a real 4k at 60fps with zero lag.

      • Ted Joseph

        Take your meds. I was simply stating that Sony is keeping me as a customer even though I am now sold on cloud gaming (i.e. Stadia). I am not being paid by anyone. I am merely speaking my opinion of Stadia and Sony PSVR. I have no allegiance to Google or Stadia, and if another company comes along and delivers a better cloud experience than Stadia, I will consider it. And yes, I have Rift, Rift S, Vive (PC headsets), Quest, and PSVR. Blood and Truth has been the best overall VR experience for me. I have all of the greatest VR games on PC, and actually have a blast playing them, but Sony’s B&T is an overall better experience. Also, I read that cloud gaming will also be the future for VR as well as hardware can be “stacked” to create experiences that a power PC cant. So overall, I am sold on cloud gaming, but will dive in one more time with Sony’s next gen system (PS5 and PSVR2).

        • care package

          Hey, I find your love for Stadia and claim PSVR is your best VR experience (compared to PCVR) f’ hilarious. I never would have guessed they exist.

  • Given the great work made on titles like Blood & Truth, I’m very intrigued to discover the new game by PlayStation London Studio! :O But I guess it will take a while to know something about this title…

  • sfmike

    Would love to see many of these great PSVR titles on other platforms. I enjoy using my PSVR but tracking sucks and resolution is second rate. If it wasn’t for some quality gameplay I would have abandoned it long ago. Hoping the PSVR2 fixes the problems.

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  • Andrew Jakobs

    They may target the PSVR2, but I’ll bet it will also be available for the original PSVR as it’s already confirmed it’s compatible with the PS5, so they won’t forgo on such a ‘large’ userbase.

  • Ted Joseph

    I have Rift, Rift S, Quest, Vive, and PSVR. The best experience so far on any of them is Blood and Truth. I had a blast playing this game. I must have played it through a dozen of times already. Cant wait to see what Sony (PSVR 2), and London Studios (B&T 2) bring to us! Future looks amazing!