Head of Sony VR studio steps down to form independent studio

Dr. Dave Ranyard has just announced that he has stepped down from his role as Studio Head of Sony’s London Studio to independently explore opportunities in VR.

“It was a tough decision to leave Sony as I have really enjoyed my time there, working on some amazing games and making some lifelong friends. I’m also a huge PlayStation fanboy at heart so am looking forward to working on Sony’s VR platform in addition to others that will be available," said Ranyard in a press release.

Ranyard was at the studio for 17 years and worked on projects like The Getaway, Singstar, Eyetoy, and Wonderbook. However, he might be best known for his involvement with the recently released 'London Heist Demo' that blew plenty of people away. To see the VR gameplay in action, click here.

"2016 is going to be the year of VR so it's the perfect time for me to take this step into independent development," he continued. "The emergence of a new medium like VR doesn't come along very often and I really want to be a part of this new world."

We wish the best of luck to Dr. Dave Ranyard and his future VR endeavors. We also must presume that he will develop for PSVR, which recently got some more pricing deals thanks to a Sony representative.

According to the Sony representative, there are rumors that the headset itself will cost $299 and will not include the camera of PlayStation Move controllers. The representative went on to say that Sony is considering selling an additional VR kit for $129 that will include the camera, Move controllers and a game. Combined, the PlayStation VR and the additional kit with gear would cost $428.