Apple could tie with up with Sony for a critical Vision Pro upgrade

digitaltrends.com:

Apple hasn’t quite tasted the domain-shifting success it expected with the Vision Pro headset. A price tag worth $3,500 was already a deterrent, but the gaming ecosystem — a key driver for the VR segment — has also been lackluster. The company is now hoping to fix that situation, with some help from Sony.

According to Bloomberg, the two companies have been working together to bring support for the PlayStation VR 2’s controllers to the pricey Apple headset. “Apple has discussed the plan with third-party developers, asking them if they’d integrate support into their games.” adds the report.

Interestingly, both parties were expected to officially confirm the compatibility weeks ago, but it seems there were some technical snags, and as a result, the announcement has been pushed further into the future. There is no word when the partnership will materialize, as per the report, and there’s a chance it could also get nixed.

As part of the deal, Sony is expected to sell the PlayStation VR 2 controller via Apple’s online storefront as well as brick-and-mortar outlets. The Apple Store already sells third-party accessories, such as those from Belkin and the Sony PlayStation DualSense Wireless controller, too.

So far, the Vision Pro has lacked any meaningful support for third-party VR controllers, even though it supports regular gamepads from the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and 8BitDo. That status quo has expectedly hurt the headset’s VR gaming ambitions.

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The majority of VR games depend on specialized motion controllers, making a shift to hand and eye tracking a significant technical hurdle. Apple, on the other hand, has been bullish on hand and eye-based gesture controls for using the Vision Pro.

However, the company hasn’t quite dismissed the need for physical