And here we were as a collective absolutely terrified of the notion that technology and virtual reality would enslave us at the turn of the century.
Not quite the Matrix, but I guess half right…maybe
a little more “Brave New World” than taking the red pill
In somewhat discouraging news on the VR front, a survey conducted by the group known as the “Game Developer Collective”, polled a sample of people from within the gaming industry that did not inspire confidence within reference to the field of VR. Of the sample group asked about what they thought in terms of how VR games were doing, a majority (56%) said they saw the market as “currently declining or stagnant, with only 23% operating under the belief the state of VR games is gradually improving over time.
If a decade later, several devices after the fact, and even
a new Half-Life game to grace the market, if all that can’t
considerably move the needle, I don’t know what will
One of the reasons it looks to be that devs are refusing the turn to support more VR and or the pivot of adoption in general is due to a limited market that has been mostly kept incredibly small and exclusive is related to price. With even larger companies like Sony offering “cheaper” alternatives as entry level choices for VR adoption, with their PSVR2 retailing for $550 just to get started, it’s easy to see why the supply and demand for VR itself is in such a miserable state.
Damning numbers, to be sure
I remember being really excited to try VR when I first went to E3…back in 2014. The number of headsets I tried ran the spectrum, from Sony’s offerings at the time, to the HTC Vive, and the Oculus Rift which was really impressive, though they all offered something grand to enjoy. I knew even then however, with my astoundingly positive experience with any of the headsets, price, even for someone like me who dedicated a lot of their budget to new gaming experiences, was going to be a barrier for VR entry. More than a decade later, and I *still* haven’t picked up a single headset for the very same reasons, and I was part of the target demographic that was even on the front lines of early prospective buyers that still hasn’t taken the leap. With even the Apple Vision Pro failing to make any splash whatsoever, with a whopping 72% of developers not seeing it as an “important moment for VR”, it seems like just about no major company can get it to work.
If major companies like Valve, Sony and even Apple can’t even get people interested enough in growing the market, I think VR will remain a niche market till kingdom come at this point, with little hope for widespread adoption. Perhaps VR will always remain just a little too future for the general gaming public at large.
~Pashford
Active Time Event 