Next week the world of videogames will have its annual mega-fest, in the form of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. While we’ll be treated to the usual array of thrilling announcements and pre-rendered footage masquerading as games, this year is also likely to showcase something a bit special: the first triple-A VR games.

That is not to say there are no VR games already – Oculus’ website alone lists 152 that are currently available – but as yet no VR-specific games have been announced by major studios.

However, with the big three VR headsets – Oculus’ Rift, Valve and HTC’s Vive and Sony’s Project Morpheus – set for consumer release in well under a year, we should expect to see at least sneak peeks if big studios are indeed planning to get involved with the wonderful world of VR.

Indie fans may disagree, but if VR is to become a major platform for gaming, it needs the support of big studios. Without it, games will be restricted in scope and scale, and will be enjoyed by fewer people.

It could even have an impact on the adoption of VR generally. While there are undoubtedly a host of other uses for VR, gaming will be the key selling point for many users, and without exciting titles, many may decide VR is not really for them.

More significantly, while the PC-based Rift and Vive could both conceivably get by without direct studio support – fans will no-doubt be happy to take up modding duties where possible – Playstation flat-out needs major studio support if it is to make its PS4 peripheral Project Morpheus a success.

The peripheral does already have an array of games in the works from small and indie developers, including a VR take on the Eve Online series from CCP Games and the recently announced psychedelic puzzler Gnog from KO-OP.

But without games at the level of giants such as Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed, VR will always seem secondary to regular gaming, and the level of adoption will follow accordingly.

Given all this, next week’s E3 is of paramount importance to the success of VR gaming.

While in the past, the event was entirely a trade show and showcase for journalists, now when a game is announced, the world is watching, and the wrong message can spell failure before a product is even released.

Take Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii U. By all accounts, the console should have been a roaring success, given the megahit that was the Wii.

But Nintendo bungled their first announcement, leaving viewers unclear whether they were watching the announcement of a new console, or a new controller.

The company has since made dramatic improvements, with last year’s digital event wowing fans and non-fans alike, and the Wii U offering a far better range of well-reviewed exclusives than the PS4 or Xbox One, but the damage has been done and the console is unlikely to ever fully recover from a sales point of view.

So for the three VR headsets, a good E3 showing could be crucial.

However Valve, a long-term shunner of the event, will have no presence, although some developers could present early-stage work on their games.

This leaves Oculus and Sony, and we could see far more from them.

Sony, of course, will have their own major event at E3, and we can expect a heavy showing of Project Morpheus-related content. They need to get this right, and exactly how they plan to do it remains to be seen – headsets are not an easy format to demonstrate on a large scale.

Oculus will also have a booth, but there is no word yet about them showing up at any of the big events. We’re hoping to see them make a surprise appearance at one of the major developer’s shows, but this all hinges on the level of support they have garnered thus far.

We could even see new VR headsets being announced by Microsoft and Nintendo (we’re rather optimistically hoping for the announcement of the Virtual Boy 2), and with Microsoft’s AR Hololens already out in the open, this isn’t an entirely insane idea.

The gaming world moves fast, and new concepts quickly become tired and old. If VR wants to be part of that world, it needs to set the scene now, or be left in the dust.

Featured image courtesy of Barone Firenze / Shutterstock.com.