PlayStation Wants Global Game Jam 2022 to Explore VR and Eye-Tracking

Global Game Jam 2022 is right around the corner, encouraging creators from around the world to come together and collaborate on simple software ideas in a short, friendly, competition-based format. Sony, as an industry leader, is backing the event, and has sponsored a “diversifier” – an optional sub-challenge which creators can choose to explore.

Fascinatingly, this is what the PlayStation maker wants creators to think about: “Enable VR support in your game, and/or implement eye-tracking capabilities as part of your game play.” The inclusion of eye-tracking is particularly interesting, given that it was announced recently that PSVR2 will be able to understand which direction you’re looking.

Initially, it was assumed that eye-tracking would be predominantly leveraged by foveated rendering, but it sounds like Sony believes there may be gameplay possibilities enabled by the technology as well. This could lead to all kinds of innovations, like characters maintaining direct eye-contact with you, or making comments if you’re not paying attention.

It’ll be interesting to see if any Global Game Jam 2022 participants take on Sony’s challenge, and what they decide to do with it. How do you think eye-tracking could utilised by PSVR2, and what kind of mechanics would you personally find interesting? Look down at the comments section below, and let us know your ideas.