United States import records from late 2021 onward show that Sony Interactive Entertainment has shipped thousands of boxes containing developer kits from Asia to the US. The exact contents of the boxes hasn’t been specified, however Sony’s next-gen PlayStation VR 2 headset is a very likely candidate.

As first reported by TweakTown, Sony has shipped 2,374 cartons containing “DEVELOPMENT KIT[s] FOR INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE,” starting back in October 2021.

Here’s the relevant data from TweakTown, sourced from import/export firm Import Genius and confirmed with Seair Exim Solutions:

  • January 2022 – 434 CTN (cartons), 4730 kg, Japan -> Oakland, CA
  • December 2021 – 980 CTN, 8712 kg, Japan -> Oakland, CA
  • November 2021 – 480 CTN, 5218 kg, Japan -> Oakland, CA
  • October 2021 – 240 CTN, 2612 kg, Korea -> Oakland, CA
  • October 2021 – 240 CTN, 2612 kg, Japan -> Oakland, CA

Granted, records don’t specify which dev kit is inside the box, however we can make a few educated guesses.

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Platform holders like Sony typically distribute dev kits to a handful of select studios months before launch so they can properly target the new hardware. PSVR 2 is rumored to release in early 2023, so the clock is ticking for studios to make the best use of all the new tech packed into Sony’s next-gen headset, including eye-tracking, face haptics and its new Sense controllers.

PlayStation 5 released in November 2020 and continues to lag in production due to the global chip shortage, so it’s unlikely Sony is shipping additional PS5 consoles to developers at this late stage.

Sony also hasn’t announced any other console, like a PlayStation 5 Pro. Given the ongoing supply chain problem with microprocessors, a surprise PS5 Pro launch seems like a non-starter considering PS5 is still in high demand and relatively little supply.

Want to learn everything there is to know about PSVR 2? Check out specs and a breakdown of the tech in PSVR 2.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • silvaring

    QA used to be fairly innocuous… now you need to have your eyeballs tracked by companies as part of your job all so that some short, novelty VR experience will make it out before the Christmas holidays. #justsayin

  • David Wilhelm

    They are still shipping vanilla PS5 dev consoles.

  • Nothing to see here

    I still think that the majority of these headsets are intended for in-store demonstrations rather than software development but who knows? Perhaps there is a lot of interest among third party developers for VR development. One possibility is that at some point in the future, Sony may require that all PS5 games and apps support VR. Sony could standardize the SDK to make this possible at least with the standard game controller.

    • Cless

      Nah, Sony won’t do such a thing to PS5, its just not powerful enough. Maybe once power isn’t a constrain anymore on consoles they might do that… but again, highly doubt it.

    • FrankB

      Sony have already stated that they want to encourage developers to include VR as an option in all ps5 games.

  • Daniel Gallo

    i think my question im gonna ask is answered when it said inbetween the lines of inside out tracking..but im still not as Bright as most of you guys out there :) just an advid gamer.

    but if someone can make it Crystal clear for me. will psvr2 be full standing room scale VR via the cameras like quest 2 just tethered?? or is it still sitdown vr like psvr1? thx in advance!

    • snakataka

      Just like Quest 2 but tethered, much better than psvr1

      • Daniel Gallo

        cool thx so much! cant wait now. if the back catalog comes thru..i got 3 games lined up, Horizon, jurassic, and iron man. if i can get 10 more games thru out the coming years on psvr2 itll be worth it!

  • BILL BLASS

    FALSE.