It’s easy to be right when saying something won’t happen, but we’re confident in our current opinion that virtual reality isn’t anywhere near market viability when it comes to gaming.
Despite some major players (Facebook and Valve for starters) pouring countless resources into virtual reality devices and software, gaming in the VR space feels at least two decades away.
And while the technology is undeniably cool, it’s unreasonable at this time to believe that many consumers will be capable of housing not only the hardware needed to play many of the games, but also the space to do so comfortably. Virtual reality gaming requires space, and particularly safe space to play, without the risk of running into walls, furniture, or other electronics.
Many consumers do not currently have the perfect mix of the above to allow for virtual reality gaming to be something in their home.
The closest thing we’ve seen to an exciting development in VR gaming as of late has been Half-Life: Alyx, Valve’s muscle-flex in the space. While the game is beautiful and by all accounts well-received in the VR community, it hasn’t inspired a wave of gamers to shift to VR headsets over consoles or gaming PCs.
Similarly, Facebook continues to dump trucks full of money onto the VR technology pile only to see their device consistently underperform in sales despite a constant stream of price reductions and heavy PR pushes. While Facebook’s intention is likely far less focused on gaming and more on keeping our eyeballs on their products, gamers are early targets of the devices, followed by practical business applications (virtual meetings being a prime example of the future).
But some wise person once said, “being too early is the same as being wrong,” and it feels like the major players in VR are at a party at 4PM when the next guests don’t plan on showing up until after Midnight.
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