Revealed on the Japanese PlayStation blog, Sony is making a few minor adjustments to new Move controllers, timed with the arrival of the updated PlayStation VR headset.

In a surprise update to the PlayStation FAQ, Sony announced that PSVR is getting a hardware refresh that includes integrated audio and new Processor Unit (aka breakout box) that can handle native HDR pass-through.

Initially launched in 2010 as a PS3 peripheral and integrated with the console’s ‘PlayStation Eye’, PS Move has gone through no appreciable change on its road to become the PSVR’s main motion controller. PlayStation Camera, the sensor that tracks both Move and PSVR headset, has seen a hardware update last year in preparation for the PSVR’s launch, an alteration that improved tracking significantly of the motion controllers.

According to the official Japanese blog, Sony will also be releasing a new version of the PS Move controllers that will change the connection terminal from mini USB to micro USB, meaning Sony will likely begin licensing official charging cradles for the updated design. The new product number is CECH-ZCM 2 J.

The new updated Move with also have a longer battery life, with a 3.5V 1900 mAh built-in lithium ion battery, an improvement over the early model Move that packed 3.7V 1350 mAh.

It’s unclear when both updated PSVR and Move will be introduced in the West, although Sony says they’ll be updating soon.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.

  • Again, PSVR 1.1

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Hopefully these can actually be charged with any regular USB slot, and not needing any special slot like the current Moves need. Also I do hope these batteries hold out much longer, as I haven’t used my move controllers a lot, but the batteries themselves are already shot (luckily it still works with the cables attached, so for the shootinggallery games I play it doesn’t really matter).

    • Stefan Eckhardt

      The old Move controllers are charged via USB Mini, which was the industry standard connector for the era the PS3 existed, before USB Micro succeeded it. Still very much a “regular USB slot”.

      Also they feature special charge connectors for cradles, which doesn’t use the USB Mini at all, and I figure the updated Moves will just fit in those as well. No new cradles needed (very likely).

      Lastly, yes, a bigger battery is exactly the biggest improvement besides the logical change to Micro USB like the console host. But you can replace your dead batteries in the old models with a little bit of work, surely much cheaper than buying the new ones.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        Have you actually owned the original Move controllers? yes it had a USB mini connector, but good luck finding a USB port which you can actually charge it with. The connectors itself aren’t the problem, but if you think you could just plug it into any USB socket and it’ll charge itself, you’re completely wrong. You need a special charger for that, oh yes it seems to start charging when you plug it into anything, but after a second or two it just stops, until you use a special charger (or ofcourse the PS3 itself), same problem with the PS3 dualshock.
        There weren’t any special charge connectors for cradles, you just put it into the usb mini connector which was located in the cradle.
        At least I could never get it to work to charge by just plugging it into my computer which normally can charge any device (unless I installed a special driver for the move/dualshock).

        • Stefan Eckhardt

          Ah, you meant the other side of the charging cable. Yes, it was a bad decision to have the controllers only charge when they also recognize the device they are connected to. But Move charging cradles were dirt cheap (I paid €5 for mine including power supply). Too bad the renewed demand due to PSVR brought those prices up to about 18 bucks now as well.

          As to the connectors, just check the bottom of your Move controllers, there are two exposed metal bits to the sides of the USB port. Those are used in the cradle, also see this video for details:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkPFKrlWWwk

          • Andrew Jakobs

            ahh, you’re right about the other charging method, I got some cheap BigBen charger which just uses the miniusb jack..

  • Caven

    I’m disappointed there’s no evidence that they’re doing anything to upgrade the tracking for the controllers. The Move controllers themselves are definitely the weak link in PSVR.

    • sfmike

      I’ll second that. If tracking was better PSVR would be real competition.

  • Master E

    If they aren’t dillegently working on some entirely new VR controller then at least put some analog sticks on those move controllers. Agreed that it’s one of the weakest parts of PSVR

  • Jean-Sebastien Perron

    No analog controller = limit your VR experience by half.
    I always said that PSMOVE = Vive controller

    • drd7of14

      Vive has a trackpad…So while it’s not a true analogue, it’s certainly better than the PSMOVE in that regard.

  • drd7of14

    I hope we get a comparison with the PS4/PS3 models of the Move. Even if they are slight changes externally, it’s been 7 years. It’s possible they made some minor tech improvements.

    We just know the battery is larger, the color tone of the buttons is more in line with the PS4, and it has MicroUSB. Would like to see if they actually perform better.

    Also curious of Select/Start have been renamed Share/Options.