Sony gave away one of the best PlayStation VR games to some PlayStation 4 owners

By Aaron Mamiit August 25, 2019

Sony, which looks like it is getting into the holiday spirit very early, gave away free copies of PlayStation VR exclusive Astro Bot Rescue Mission to some lucky PlayStation 4 owners.

Several gamers took to websites and online forums to report that they received free copies of Astro Bot Rescue Mission. A post on the official PlayStation 4 sub-Reddit showed the email that the lucky people received.

“No catch, no strings… we’re just giving you a free PlayStation VR game,” said the image in the email, which contains a voucher code that the recipient will redeem on the PlayStation Store to start downloading Astro Bot Rescue Mission. According to the terms and conditions of the email, the offer is valid until December 2019, and that it is targeting select PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Sony’s selection process for who gets free copies of the popular PlayStation VR game remains unclear. The initial impression was that the Astro Bot Rescue Mission was being gifted to players who already own the virtual reality system, but according to the Reddit thread, some players who received the email do not own it. Perhaps the giveaway is serving the dual purpose of thanking those who have purchased the PlayStation VR, while also enticing those who do not own the system yet to buy it.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission, with a Metacritic score of 90, is widely considered one of the best virtual reality games not just on the PlayStation VR, but across all platforms. The game, which was released in October last year and is currently selling for $20, places players in the role of Astro, the captain Bot, as he goes on a mission to rescue his crew.

Sony previously said that improvements are heading to the design of the PlayStation VR‘s headset, to make it lighter and less encumbered by wires. There is also the possibility of the headset going wireless and integrating eye-tracking technology, though such a successor will likely not be ready to launch alongside the PlayStation 5.

For those who own the virtual reality system for the PlayStation 4, Digital Trends has compiled the best PlayStation VR games available for the platform.

Topics

Contributor

Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…

Gaming

Behemoth blends Skyrim and Shadow of the Colossus into one VR epic

One of the title characters in Behemoth looms in an image from the upcoming game.

Skydance Games has something big on its hands with Behemoth, an upcoming fantasy action VR title for Meta Quest 2 and 3, PlayStation VR2, and PC VR. And when I say “big,” I’m talking about its titular Behemoths themselves. From the first person perspective of the lead character, standing near the base of those beasts has a way of making you feel very small by comparison. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to fight them, and the entire plot of the upcoming VR game hinges on their defeat.

Digital Trends was recently invited to Skydance Games’ office in Santa Monica for a hands-on demo of Behemoth. Shawn Kittelsen, vice president of creative for Skydance Interactive, was there to walk me through the demo, which takes place about three hours into the game. According to Kittelsen, the area explored in the demo will be populated with more enemies in the final game. But in order to keep the demo to just 45 minutes, some subtractions were made. In the short time that I had to play, I got a taste for what feels like a promising cross between Skyrim VR and Shadow of the Colossus.
Slaying the Behemoths
Behemoth is a first-person VR adventure with an emphasis on sword-swinging combat and light exploration. Both Skyrim and Shadow of the Colossus are apt comparisons because Behemoth thrusts the players into a dark fantasy realm and puts them into the mountainous terrain of the cursed Forsaken Lands. The player character is a mighty warrior who has also been cursed, and the only way to cure the land is to rid it of the Behemoths.

Gaming

You’ll finally be able to play Half-Life: Alyx on PlayStation VR2 this summer

Half-Life Alyx being played with a PlayStation VR2 headset.

Sony has finally unveiled its PC adapter for PlayStation VR2, which will be released this August and finally enable players to try games like Half-Life: Alyx with the headset.

PSVR2 sports some impressive tech, but it's no secret that Sony has failed to support it with compelling games for the PS5. Earlier this year, it was teased that Sony was working on PC compatibility for the headset; now, we've learned that this will come in the form of a PC adapter that people can use with a DisplayPort 1.4 cable in order to play VR games through Steam. These are the minimum specs your PC will need in order to get the PSVR2 up and running, straight from the PlayStation Blog.

Gaming

Sony just put one final nail in the PlayStation VR2’s coffin

The PlayStation VR2 sits on a table next to Sense controllers.

PlayStation VR2 has been murdered. The culprit: Astro Bot.

My favorite announcement of Sony's May 30 State of Play was Astro Bot, a new 3D platformer from Team Asobi that celebrates PlayStation history. It looks incredibly charming and stands out from the typical narrative-action games like Stellar Blade that Sony tends to release these days. That said, my excitement also comes with disappointment as it does not appear that the game will support PlayStation VR2. (Digital Trends reached out to Sony to confirm that was the case but has not gotten a response at the time of publishing this story.)