With the launch of Sony’s PS VR coming this October, all the 50 launch titles and subsequent games have to be clearly labelled for consumers to distinguish if a game offers VR support and which one outright requires the headset. What better way to do than with some boxart design tweaks?
If you’re buying physical games on the shelf, PS4 games will be clearly labelled if it requires PS VR to work or if it offers optional VR features. The top image is for games that need PS VR to even run, and the one below offers optional VR.
Since Sony is currently the major player in the VR race that can market to more mainstream audience, the boxart is very important to communicate the need for additional hardware. You won’t stumble into an Oculus Rift game unless you’re in their proprietary store, while SteamVR titles that uses the HTC Vive do have some indication it requires a headset in the form of a small orange warning text on the Steam page. Both are still niche in nature do to the asking price of the hardware, but Sony has to make such information much more apparent for less savvy buyers to clearly understand if it needs additional hardware.