CCP boss: VR is ‘not going to be big’ next year

Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the guy who runs CCP Games and Eve Online, thinks that VR is going to follow a trajectory similar to mobile gaming and 3D graphics cards. And that means we're going to have to be patient.

[ColManischewitz]

Maybe by 2017?

[lelo2play]

VR is another gaming gimmick and it probably will come and go, like other gimmicks... Wii, Kinect, PS Move, 3D, etc.

EDIT: There were a couple of gimmicks that stayed: gamepad and mouse.
If VR wants to succeed it has to offer a perfect gaming experience, something extra, something people would like to try over and over again... otherwise...

[SteamPowered]

VR transcends video games. It will be very successful. There are already a ton of media that utilizes VR. From movies to sporting events to interactive learning.
And to put VR into perspective, valve already has SteamVR mode and an entire genre of VR games in its library. When you add in all the other games on the Oculus Share site, you will see how many people are into this "VR Fad". VR isn't going to happen in 6 months or next year, it's already happening.
VR is almost the opposite of 4K: VR has a multitude of applications being developed before mainstream while 4K has been out a while but has hardly any content.

[calactyte]

Obviously you've never experienced VR before. If you have and you are unimpressed, I can certainly respect your opinion.

I have tried it and I'll tell you that it will likely make 90% of all people who do try it, buy a VR headset. It sells itself. You put it on, and you are transported to another world. You look down, you feel fearful of falling when in VR. I challenge you not to flinch or duck when something swings at your head in VR. By the time it hits shelves the resolution will be good enough to keep you in the experience. Combined with digital scanning technology you'll be hard pressed to determine what is real and what is digital within the next few years.

Imagine the P.T. demo where the the voice says, "turn around..I said turn around!". You'd peak over your shoulder in terror. But VR shown off screen does nothing for anyone. However once you put it on start reaching into thin air for digital objects that you could swear are real, well a whole new world will open for you. Your 60 Inch 4K TV will seem like a black and white screen from the 50s.

But lets say you are right for second. Lets say people don't want to immerse themselves into another reality. Just wait until the porn industry gets their claws into it. Like it or not, formats and technologies live and die by what the porn industry does.

[midnightambler]

Maybe never. I still remember the '90s.

[Transistor]

It's 2015.

The VR of now, is not the VR of then. Look at 90's cell phones, some early ones required a briefcase.

[Transistor]

I agree, I think it'll get big depending on it's execution in 2017. In 2016 we'll get a few titles here and there and people will slither around the net saying VR has no games.

[kmanmx]

Eh, not sure I entirely agree. Nobody really thought touch screen phones could have good games. "How are you supposed to play good games on a touch screen with no controller", nor did many people buy smartphones to play games initially. There wasn't even an app store.

VR headsets are pure gaming devices, many indie games and AAA games are already in development, and the devices are being backed and made by big powerful gaming company (Sony etc). Nobody doubts that VR games will be good either. The benefits are obvious.

Obviously, you are not going to get $1bn of revenue from a VR game in year 1, 2016. But adoption will be rapid, and I think several hundred million in game revenue for a single game (VR's CoD equivalent) is entirely possible by 2017.

[EvilWay]

I don't think it will ever take off. Not because it isn't a cool piece of hardware or the capabilities of it, but because I don't know if it will get the support it needs to get developers to develop for it. Also price could be a problem as well. I don't think the install base will be big enough and big name studios won't add it to there games at all or will half ass it and people just won't bother

[SteamPowered]

Go to Oculus Share website if you don't think people are developing for VR....it will shock you how many applications are already developed.
The media applications being developed will draw the user base in, believe me. Steven Speilburg as well as Robert Rodriguez are both huge believers in VR. Imagine a 3d interactive Jurassic park movie. It would be massive!!

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

Couldn't agree more steampowered, the pure mass is unbelievable. I've been holding off certain games just to play them in VR after trying it. I'm sure I'll play on the TV for say co op games (local) but I can't see myself using anything else for solo gaming in the future.

[ninsigma]

The morpheous or occulous may not even be the tech to make it mainstream. While I'm excited to see these machines for myself, I see them as merely the stepping stones into the vr world. There will be much better tech but these are the machines that will start the ball rolling.

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

15 years from now I can't even imagine, it'll be like that movie gamer except no one will actually die :D

[ninsigma]

I think it was a star ocean game ( could be wrong) where they had a vr room. That would be freakin awesome!

[Rookie_Monster]

VR is a gimmick. I remember when cinema 3D was a fad for like a couple of years and it is still not comparable to traditional 2d viewing. Gaming is always about you and the controller and things like VR and motion control is only that, a nice novelty. AR, on the other hand will be a the next big thing as it is really a user interface for productivity..but in gaming, it is still not there yet.

[Insomnia_84]

Time will prove you wrong about VR.

[kmanmx]

Haha. It's so easy to spot people that haven't tried a proper VR headset with a good game. It's not even comparable to 3D cinema.

You do realise, at it's absolute worst, a VR headset can simulate a cinema sized OLED screen ?. And at it's best, it is so so much more.

[SteamPowered]

^ This guy gets it ^

[SoapShoes]

You're so full of it! You say VR is a gimmick but AR is not and cite 3D as a reason why VR is a fad... Yet you don't mention AR being around for a long time now and not catching on at all.

[Rookie_Monster]

Your lack of comprehension is at fault here. I said AR is the next best thing as an interface for "productivity" like for architecture and in the medical field.

Which part of "but in gaming, it is still not there yet" did you not understand?

Face Palm!

[SoapShoes]

And who was talking about games? The AR tech has been around for a long time, now you're trying to twist words to save face.

[ninsigma]

AR may not be there yet for games but there's no way it will be better for games than VR.

[RiPPn]

CCP use that crystal ball of yours and tell me who is going to win the super bowl in 2016.

[Perjoss]

It will certainly not be big with everyone, but I think it will have its own crowd, how big that crowd will be is another question.

The bottom line is there will always be a large portion of gamers that just want a controller, a headset and a popular online game, I don't think you can easily sway that crowd.

[Peace_Love_and_FPS]

For those who haven't taken the plunge, DO IT. It's like stepping into a whole other world.

[lastking95]

VR is a gimmick, it's clear as day. AR has it's chances because it has more uses outside of just gaming.