Virtual Reality has really taken off in the last few years, even if it hasn't been a major game-changer when it comes to modifying our gaming practices. Not everyone, however, continues to have high hopes in the technology, including Paradox's CEO Fredrik Wester who, speaking at the Slush conference, had little encouraging words for VR. Indeed, according to him, 2018 will represent the year of death for VR devices.
"When you meet VR companies these days, and say, 'so you're a VR company?' They say, 'Yeah, but we do other things as well'... VR is the best solution that you will ever see that is still looking for a problem," he explained.
Bossa Studios' Henrique Olifiers also supported Wester's point of view, and he added: "The reality is a subset of that. If you have a HTC Vive or whatever, you have a super [high-end] setup, it's super expensive, it's heavy, you're not free [to move]. That's a subset of the vision for VR, and that's why adoption by the mass market is slow."
"People talk about strapping a mobile phone to your face. That's even a step down [from the Vive]; that's more difficult to accept. It's further away from the dream."
Wester did have more positive views when it comes to next year for gamers in general, as 2018 (to paraphrase Wester) will be the year when the players will take the power back, finally starting to take a clear position towards some business models that are negatively affecting the market, starting with micro-transactions.
"2018 is going to be the year where gamers take the power back," Wester said, clearly marking this trend as the most positive that will define 2018. "We're seeing that with the loot box debacle that EA had with Star Wars Battlefront II. I think we're seeing that in numerous different places."
Both positions are very interesting, undoubtedly, but what do you think: will 2018 really be the year of the death for VR and the year the gamers take the power back?
Thanks, GamesIndustry.biz.