The State of Virtual Reality in 2021

Virtual reality has been around for ages. Not commercially, mind you – aside from a brief flare-up in the 1990s, the use of VR was restricted to some very specific areas. But the 2010s finally brought it back into the spotlight thanks to a 17-year-old tinkering in his parents’ garage. The Oculus Rift triggered a new wave of enthusiasm around VR complete with increased attention from the media. Suddenly, everyone and their dogs started developing headsets, controllers, and content for virtual reality. Even online casinos joined the race. Microgaming, an industry veteran, offered players a glimpse into a future where we can play online blackjack and roulette in an immersive and realistic environment without having to leave the room. The project earned Microgaming the deserved industry recognition.

The State of Virtual Reality in 2021But a decade later, VR seems to have remained a niche product, still waiting for its big break with the general public.

Sales

2020 could’ve been the big year of VR. With millions locked inside their homes, VR headsets could’ve been the answer to their escapism. Alas, reality once again failed to live up to the analysts’ expectations.

The VR industry has struggled to pass the $1 billion mark (in sales, per year) for quite some time. Apparently, it did in 2020 – but it took a global pandemic to push it beyond the $1 billion mark. This translates into around 6.4 million headsets sold to consumers. Of course, the offer was also limited last year – the manufacturing challenges encountered in the first half of the year, as well as the launch of both major gaming consoles toward its end, offset the numbers by quite a bit in 2020.

According to tech analyst enterprise Omdia, the penetration of VR headsets into households was still at a mere 1.2% at the end of 2020, nowhere near the predictions fueled by the initial enthusiasm about the technology we’ve seen in the early 2010s.

Omdia analyst George Jijiashvili expects VR to be present in 3% of all households by 2025. But until then, there’s a major hurdle the platform will have to overcome:

Software

If you ask “how many major game franchises have a successful VR version”, the answer is exactly one: Valve’s Half-Life: Alyx, released in 2020. The first Half-Life game in ages was a bit of a disappointment for the average fan – it was a VR exclusive, after all – but it also boosted the sales of Valve’s own Index headset right before the holiday season.

The State of Virtual Reality in 2021

There are quite a few other VR hits available today, ranging from immersive adventures like Lone Echo to intense shooters like Superhot VR or the music-based casual game Beat Saber. Still, the lack of VR content from the biggest names in game development seems to hold the industry back. VR still lacks “truly compelling content”, as Jijiashvili put it.

Since VR doesn’t have the massive and compelling library of content that PC and console gaming has, it will – at least for the time being – play third fiddle to the other two. And it’s the chicken and egg dilemma once again: users are reluctant to invest in VR headsets until there’s a compelling game library they can play, and game developers are reluctant to shift resources to VR game development until a big enough pool of potential customers is reached.

VR started out as one of the most exciting entertainment innovations of our time. At this point, it seems that it is becoming the “next big thing” it was predicted to be – but slower than expected.

Latest News

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here