Resident Evil 7 VR is "exclusive to PlayStation VR" for a year

We recently spoke to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard game director Koshi Nakanishi about the series' "switch to first-person VR," in which he described the first-person perspective as the "optimum" way to inflict horror on modern (read: jaded) gamers. Strapping the game directly to your face by way of a VR headset promises, in theory at least, to intensify the effect even further by injecting players directly into the unpleasantness. But it may be a much longer-than-expected wait before PC gamers get to sample the full experience.

A Resident Evil 7 ad, recently seen on Facebook and posted to Reddit, states, "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard coming in 2017 and exclusive to PlayStationVR for 12 months." So while the game is slated to hit the PC alongside consoles in January, the VR version—which is presumably the one that Rift and Vive-equipped horror-heads will want to play—may not come our way until early 2018 at the soonest. And it may not come at all: "Resident Evil 7 Biohazard will be available for PlayStation VR at launch on 24th January, 2017," a rep said. "Capcom has not confirmed any other VR formats at this time."

An ad for Batman: Arkham VR, noted by Kotaku, makes a similar disclaimer: "Exclusive to PlayStation VR until 31 March 2017." Unlike Resident Evil 7, Arkham VR hasn't been announced for the PC, but the PSVR exclusivity note might be a hint that it's coming. (It might also be nothing more than the casual tossing-around of the word "exclusive" that marketing departments like so much.)

It's possible that there could be some sort of marketing-speak twist ahead, similar to the way Titanfall was billed as a "console exclusive" even though a PC version launched alongside the Xbox One release. (Sorry, Sony.) But "exclusive to PlayStation VR" doesn't seem to leave much room to wiggle. Since Capcom has said all it's going to say for now, there's nothing left to do at this point but wait to see what transpires. I would suggest, though, that if you were planning on scooping up a Vive in anticipation of diving face-first into that Resi goodness, you might want to hold off.

Thanks, Gameranx.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.