Virtual Reality Is Dominated By Video Games … For Now

Virtual or augmented reality is still attempting to justify its billing as the next big thing, but there is a really familiar use case dominating the nascent developer area.

People constantly say that the leading index of technological adoption is the adult industry.  While that might have been true during the Betamax versus the Web or VHS days, things are a bit different today.  Games of all sorts are the indication of technological adoption.  You know everyone will probably soon follow, after the game makers get in on something.

According to the 2nd yearly VRDC VR/AR Innovation Report, games have been viewed as the very best way to give people the immersive experiences which (in theory) will spur mass adoption.

The education and training categories are some way supporting games, with 27% of people citing virtual learning as a focus.  Around 19 percent of programmers said branded experiences–often car showrooms or rendered VR vacations–were on the agenda.

As a whole, the virtual and augmented reality section should begin building on the hype it has created.  But programmers are taking the long view as nearly all programmers see the realities as a medium to long-term sales flow.  A range of respondents to VRDC’s survey said that they weren’t hoping to turn a profit in the future, citing the fact that the sector is yet to mature.

“While money still flows freely through the VR/AR/MR sectors, it’s apparent that most industry professionals are not hoping to turn a profit in the short term,” the report said.  “When we asked business professionals around when they believed VR, AR, or MR could generate a profit for their customer, only 16 percent said in the short-term, 39 percent said medium-term, and 38 percent said just in the long term”

Virtual Reality Revenue Will Be Game-Based

The thing that matches are the dominant force in the nascent augmented or virtual reality universe is not shocking.  In many ways, the growth of the realities is mirroring that of the app ecosystem, that has relied heavily on games for revenue that is ongoing.

The great majority of accessible VR content is game-based and that is not likely to change any time soon.  A recent report by the Entertainment Software Association said that 15 percent of gamers had employed virtual reality in the previous 12 months, with 63% of “average gamers” acquainted with the expertise.  Moreover, one in three of these hardcore gamers stated they meant to purchase virtual reality hardware in the next year.

The Average Person Needs More Than Games

Global digital reality revenues are expected to reach $7.2 billion from the end of this calendar year, according to market analyst Greenlight Insights however this is regarded as modest increase.  By 2021, worldwide sales will reach $74.8 billion, Greenlight stated, citing the fact that enterprises–and not just game publishers–will integrate augmented or virtual reality experiences into their business practices.

With that in mind, a need is for augmented and virtual reality programmers to turn their collective gaze like Doom or Fallout 4 on something aside from VR versions of popular names.