PSVR2 Hardware Authentication has Been Cracked on PC
Sony’s latest venture into the virtual reality space has seen them release the PSVR2, as well as new games for the hardware, including Horizon Call of the Mountain. One of its biggest drawbacks, however, is that the headset does not easily work on desktop computers, unlike competitors like the Meta Quest. Earlier today, though, there seemed to be strides made on this front, albeit a small one in the long run.
This morning, a NeoGAF thread revealed that the hardware’s authentication tools for the PSVR 2 had been completely cracked. As a result, the below tweet from iVRy showcases a small “PSVR2 Authenticated!” message. You can view iVRy’s tweet below.
— iVRy (@iVRy_VR) May 6, 2023
iVRy, for those unaware, created a Steam application that allows you to force the usage of various VR headsets in other programs, including the first PSVR, your smartphone, and more. The replies to this tweet denote that while the encryption has been broken, the team isn’t at liberty to reveal how they got to that point (especially given that Sony would be within their legal rights to hunt them down. iVRy continues this, saying the following in response:
I am not at liberty to discuss that. It's pretty locked down. It's unlikely that we could get locked out unless Sony changes the way peripheral authentication happens on PS5. We'd have to give them more incentive than letting some of their customers use their headset on a PC.
— iVRy (@iVRy_VR) May 6, 2023
Interestingly, the hardware can still very well see a compatibility driver release for it, similar to how we've had DSX and DS4Windows working. DS4Windows and DSX allow PlayStation controllers to be used in applications and games that would not typically support them naturally, like the first Overwatch. Unfortunately, said hardware driver currently does not exist for the PSVR2. It will also be time-consuming, as the team behind iVRy noted. They said the below comments:
Reverse-engineering USB protocols is complex and requires combining educated guesses with accumulated knowledge. It's time-consuming and requires expensive hardware.
The brass tacks of the situation are that hardware compatibility is possible but will take quite some time to figure out and work accordingly. None of this would stop Sony from suddenly releasing a driver that makes the new PSVR2 work retroactively with VR titles outside the PS5 natively. So, it's a matter of waiting until we see which one comes first, official support or support brought by hardware enthusiasts willing to jump a wide variety of hurdles.
Either way, this story is still currently developing, and we’ll provide more updates where available. iVRy is available to download on PC via Steam, iOS devices, and Android devices, with various in-app purchases available based on the VR headset you have. The PSVR2 headset is currently available for use exclusively on PlayStation 5 consoles.
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