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Is the Virtual Reality market set to collapse?

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VRcollapse

Whether you like it or not, Virtual Reality is coming. Oculus, HTC and Valve and Sony are bringing their own head-mounted virtual reality peripherals within the next year – with rumours that many other companies are jumping on board the VR bandwagon. The problem is there’s really only so much space on said bandwagon, and the whole thing could end up collapsing on itself.

That’s the general consensus of Network’s Neil Young (who may or may not be searching for a heart of gold), who thinks there’s quite a large chance the market for VR could collapse.

“I think [a market collapse] is the biggest risk, and potentially the most likely outcome,” he told MCV. “VR and AR right now are the new shiny thing. You’ve got to love it if you are a game maker who has been frustrated by how the console space has developed, because here is an opportunity to start building new and exciting things.

“But there are a lot of speed bumps that we will encounter along the way.”

Echoing the sentiments of a great number of other industry players, he believes that VR has too many barriers to entry, and that while it likely will be an important bit of the industry, it’s perhaps getting a little ahead of itself.

“It will be even more of a hit-driven business,” he said. “That, the barriers to entry, the cost, the medical issues… all of these things create this conundrum for the VR industry that has to be sorted through.”

“I can imagine VR going through the same thing that streaming went through where OnLive and Gaikai were here, and it was going to be the future where you don’t need a console anymore. Then it doesn’t quite happen: the funding dries up, someone shuts down and someone buys the patents. Yet over the arc of five or ten years, it will become an important facet of the games industry.”

“It is the cycle of this industry, where we get a little ahead of ourselves. That is good and bad. If we didn’t think that way then we wouldn’t keep pushing forward, but we can sometimes get into difficulties. A killer app can change everything – but it is going to be harder than some imagine.”

That killer app is going to be key. While Virtual Reality is undeniably cool and surprisingly mature, it’s going to take great, unique experiences to convince people that it’s worth spending the money on. It’s going to be a lot of money, too.

Last Updated: July 23, 2015

16 Comments

  1. Umar

    July 23, 2015 at 15:34

    I want to live, I want to give <3

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      July 23, 2015 at 15:35

      *Shakes head…

      Reply

      • Umar

        July 23, 2015 at 15:41

        Don’t judge me. At least it’s not 1D.

        Reply

  2. RinceThis

    July 23, 2015 at 15:36

    What do you mean? There is no WAY VR is a gimmick or joke or fad. It’s doing to winz!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      July 23, 2015 at 15:58

      Bring Kinect back!

      Reply

  3. Purple_Dragon

    July 23, 2015 at 15:39

    Makes me think of 3D TV.

    Reply

    • Jac7

      July 23, 2015 at 15:50

      I still have mine. Porn is epic.

      Reply

  4. Admiral Chief in Skellige

    July 23, 2015 at 15:42

    Lol what an ass

    Reply

  5. Lollies the Laughing Lollipop

    July 23, 2015 at 15:48

    VR for Porn and Porn alone.. the Gaming thing is just a ruse…

    Reply

  6. The Sten

    July 23, 2015 at 15:52

    It cant collapse if if doesn’t actually get built up properly 1st.

    Reply

  7. Hammersteyn

    July 23, 2015 at 15:57

    Bwahahaha header win

    Reply

  8. Kromas,powered by windows 10.

    July 23, 2015 at 16:44

    VR already collapsed 20 odd years ago. I believe what we are seeing may just be it finally coming to fruition. Then again I have actually had VR experience with the Oculus so I am hella excited.

    Reply

  9. lindapthompson

    July 23, 2015 at 19:22

    Think about this gammer See More

    Reply

  10. konfab

    July 24, 2015 at 09:27

    There is already a killer app for these things: virtual cinemas.
    I would love to play my current, non VR games on a massive virtual screen. They could even tie in the existing 3D TV support.

    Reply

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