Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

PlayStation VR will bring back the pack-in demo disk at launch

Gabe Gurwin
By

playstation vr demo disc version 1473236232 feat
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The PlayStation VR’s $400 price tag might mean you don’t have too much cash left over to actually pick up additional games, but an included demo disc will give you a chance to try out some of the peripheral’s biggest titles.

Included with every PlayStation VR, the demo disc offers trials of DriveClub VR, PlayStation VR Worlds, RIGS Mechanized Combat League, Tumble VR, Battlezone, EVE: Valkyrie, Wayward Sky, and Headmaster. The selection includes a wide range of genres, with everything from competitive shooters to driving and soccer. If you’re in the United States or Canada, the collection also includes an additional 10 games: Allumette, Gnog, Harmonix Music VR, Here They Lie, Job Simulator, Resident Evil 7 biohazard‘s “Kitchen Teaser,” Rez Infinite, Thumper, Within, and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.

Recommended Videos

Sony did not specify how much of each game players will be able to try, or whether the offerings will simply be timed versions of the full games, with the exception of one game: PlayStation VR Worlds. The demo will feature Ocean Descent, a dangerous journey into the depths of the deep blue sea that puts you face to face with a shark. The full version also includes the sport game Danger Ball, shooter Scavengers Odyssey, VR Luge, and The London Heist. The latter game was previously shown off as a press demo for the PlayStation VR, and tasks players with stealing a diamond before speeding away in a guns-blazing car chase.

RIGS Mechanized Combat League | Campaign Reveal | PlayStation VR

Guerrilla Games’ Rigs Mechanized Combat League, meanwhile, is largely a competitive online shooter, but the game also features a single-player mode. In it, you recruit different “pilots” to become members of your team, and raising your “fame” will result in more talented competitors joining your team. It’s unclear if you’ll also be able to go online with the demo version.

Related

The PlayStation VR demo disc will launch alongside the hardware October 13.

Updated on 9-14-16 by Gabe Gurwin: Added information on North American demo disk.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
You need to try PlayStation VR2’s most psychedelic game yet
Key art for Akka Arrh shows psychedelic images.

You know that it's a busy year for gaming when a project by an industry legend launches with hardly any fanfare. That's exactly what happened in February 2023 with Akka Arrh. Created by Jeff Minter and his eccentric studio Llamasoft, the neon-tinted shooter is a remake of a 1982 Atari game that never saw the light of day after being deemed too difficult. Minter got the greenlight to revive the project, bringing it to life as a retro arcade shooter built in his unmistakable style.

While the project was exciting for game historians, it didn't exactly crack into the mainstream (it only has 37 user reviews on Steam). Thankfully, Akka Arrh getting a second chance to shine this week as its new PlayStation 5 version adds PlayStation VR2 support. While that might not be enough to make it a commercial hit, it does give PSVR2 owners a good reason to dust off their headset and check out a delightfully oddball project from one of gaming's true visionaries.
It's a trip
Akka Arrh is the rare example of a game that might be easier to explain on paper than in practice. In this throwback arcade shooter, players control a stationary ship that's tasked with protecting pods from attacking aliens. To fend off foes, players drop bombs that blow up in a different geometric pattern on each level's map. Every time an enemy touches that blast radius, it blows up in the same pattern, chaining to other enemies. The goal is to keep an uninterrupted chain going as long as possible by using a limited number of bullets to knock out foes that can't be destroyed by bombs and grabbing power-ups by hovering the cursor over them.

Read more
PlayStation lays off 900 people and shuts down London Studio
The PlayStation Studios logo in black and white.

Sony is the latest company in the video game industry to announce massive layoffs in 2024. We've learned that Sony Interactive Entertainment is letting go of about 900 people across several studios; PlayStation's London Studio will shut down as a result.

In a blog post, soon-to-depart Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan says these cuts amount to about 8% of PlayStation's workforce. "Through discussions over the past few months about the evolving economic landscape, changes in the way we develop, distribute, and launch products, and ensuring our organization is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable," Ryan explains. "The leadership team and I made the incredibly difficult decision to restructure operations, which regrettably includes a reduction in our workforce impacting very talented individuals who have contributed to our success."

Read more
PC compatibility for the PlayStation VR2 is being tested by Sony
Playstation VR2 headset on a PlayStation-themed wallpaper.

To celebrate the first anniversary of the PlayStation VR2, Sony revealed a new batch of games coming to its virtual reality headset and confirmed that it's testing a feature that would let people play PC VR games on their PSVR2.

"We’re pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PSVR2 titles available through PS5," the PlayStation Blog post about PSVR2's first anniversary teases. "We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates."

Read more