When RocketWerkz Ltd. released one of the first videogames for virtual reality last spring, developers at the New Zealand studio were hopeful it could break even—maybe even turn a profit.

Neither happened. Its $20 strategy game, “Out of Ammo,” has recouped only about 60% of the roughly $650,000 spent creating the game, according to Dean Hall, the company’s chief executive. For now, RocketWerkz is going back to making traditional computer games.

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