What happened to the VR innovators?
Or, when did we become scared of trying new things?
A year ago, I wrote The Cost of Making a VR Game, an article where I outlined the cost of making a VR game and talked about how VR wasn’t profitable for most developers. I ended the write up talking about how every developer was taking a risk, and how from the outside VR developers looked stupid, idiotic and reckless. And that was beautiful; the risk, passion and innovation of VR developers defined the VR industry.
Well, a year has passed and I from my perspective, no longer do I see the same innovation that once drove VR a year ago. I don’t see developers trying new things and pushing for the edge as much as they had. I’m seeing more of the same and it’s disappointing. All the VR games coming out seem to be “Super action eSport VR shooter #1,829,” “Generic Social platform #12” and “standing-around-doing-stuff-simulators #523”. The Warka Flarka Flim Flams, Climbey’s and #SelfieTennis’s are non-existent now, or at least, not getting the attention and respect they deserve, from those who should be giving it.
What the hell happened?
It’s not a lack of motivation, VR developers are some of the most passionate about their craft in the game industry. Surely we didn’t get scared of the change so easily? We’re VR developers — we‘re the pioneers, the explorers, the risk takers. Risk is what makes us, us. Getting scared to try, share or publish our experiments is not something we did, and it’s definitely not something we should do. It’s straight up disappointing. I am disappointed with the VR game industry. We need to stop doing the same thing under the guise of playing it safe. There will be plenty of time later to play it safe, but now is not yet that time.
No one wants the same thing over and over again — consumers definitely don’t. VR’s gone genre stale and thats hurting the VR game industry.
To the outsider, we VR developers are stupid, idiotic and reckless. And for VR, thats fucking beautiful. You need to be all those if you want to succeed in VR. If we don’t continue to be reckless, innovative developers, then VR will not last long at all. Period. End of Story. I’m serious. We’ll just, fade away into the existing game industry noise.
We’re not done with innovation and exploring yet, we’re not at the point in time where we can sit back and play it safe. We’re not yet ready to make the same cupcakes with different frosting on them and call them new and exciting. So, stop. It’s ok to take your risks, to try those new things and share them with the world. People still want to see it, I still want to see it. We’re not out of rough waters yet and kickin’ back on the dingy’s we made last year won’t get us out of the storm any quicker.
Don’t be scared. Take your risks, be proud of them. Own them.
P.S
I know that some folks will want to ask about some VR games/experiences that I think are doing innovative stuff. Games that stand out from the rest, but maybe need some more attention.
