Are Standards or Exclusives More Important in these Formative Moments of Mainstream VR

While companies forge their own paths do they leave the market hanging in the balance?

If you grew up a gamer, like me, then you’ve probably been latched onto the dream of virtual reality gaming in one form or another for you entire life. The better graphics, controls, and experiences get the more we just want to be inside the game. Luckily, the technology is already here. Well… If you’re willing to drop a massive amount of cash.

The first barrier to VR headsets of any variety going mainstream is, of course, the price tag. That’s the thing consumers look at before almost anything else. With the Oculus Rift sitting at a projected $600 and the HTC Vive is already pre-ordering at a lofty $800. Now, for a world changing gaming experience this doesn’t sound all that bad, right? Well odds are this isn’t all you’ll have to buy to get a proper VR experience. If you don’t have a top of the line gaming PC you likely won’t meet the minimum requirements to run games on either of these systems. I bought a new graphics card 6 months ago and my PC barely scrapes by. The very fact that even many PC gamers, let alone mainstream consumers, won’t be able to run games on the two biggest competitors in the VR space is a huge problem.

“The longer this systematic problem is allowed to exist the longer we’ll have to wait.”

The biggest issue, though, is one that the manufacturers have created themselves. It comes in the form of proprietary development tools and APIs. What this means is if a developer wants to make a game for Oculus Rift and for the HTC Vive they have to go through and program the game to work with one and then completely rewrite it for the other. This makes developing for both platforms untenable for most creators adding another layer of apprehension to everyone’s choice of product. Everyone waiting to make their purchase because they want to see which side of the divide their favorite developers fall on isn’t helping anyone. It results in a lack of revenue for both companies, limiting the investment they can make in the development of VR games, and prevents people from purchasing the games that are already out there.

The longer this systematic problem is allowed to exist the longer we’ll have to wait for anything conclusive to happen in the VR market. Down the road this same decision will cause a growing divide between the two platforms, creating a sort of “headset exclusive” subdivision of the overall PC market.

“I fear that the more they isolate their respective environments the more stagnant and divisive the market will become.”

It is clear that each company sees a slightly different future for their product. HTC seems to be altogether focused on creating a full VR experience akin to a holodeck, with your full body being used to play the game. Oculus on the other hand has taken a more conserative approach, with the entire experience taking place while seated.

Despite these functional differences, if VR equipment manufacturers could still come together and create standards I believe we would see a speedy increase in the number and quality of available games for both the Rift and the Vive, allowing more people to feel good about dropping $800 or more on these incredible devices.

Even though the technology has become far better than I’d imagined it would ever be by this point in time I still feel that same apprehension. With the release of both products fast approaching it becomes more important by the day for these problems to be resolved, or at the very least addressed in earnest by the companies themselves. I fear that the more they isolate their respective environments the more stagnant and divisive the market will become.