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by kbouck 457 days ago
Beat Saber with custom songs is the killer app for VR
1 comments

Is that a sad statement? That seems like a sad statement.
Maybe, but I think it’s more of an idictment of game studios’ collective attitude toward VR and still-underdeveloped hardware (IMO, we’re only now starting to approach VR headsets’ “final form” with units like the Bigscreen Beyond and MeganeX).

Way, way too many game studios approached VR the same way they might a new graphics feature like raytracing or HDR. “Bolt it on and they’ll come” basically, which obviously didn’t pan out. Unsurpringly the titles that took flight were those where VR was integral to the experience and added lasting novelty — “AAA game but with VR” is just not that interesting (unless it’s a free community-developed mod, maybe).

Of course, it’s much more difficult and risky to develop VR-first games like that. With studios being more profit-driven and risk-averse than ever, that’s a recipe for vanishingly few new flagship VR games being developed. It’s a safer bet to develop yet another faceless loot box driven Fortnite/Counterstrike/etc clone or gacha game.

Or an indication that VR killer apps exist strictly inside NSFW domains(but that also implicates those elaborate driving/piloting simulator rigs are somehow NSFW too)