The virtual reality industry is poised for a transformative five years. While consumer VR equipment is still cost prohibitive for many, location-based ‘VR arcade’ businesses offer a chance for consumers to experience high-end VR equipment without a big up-front investment. And it’s catching on. Especially in China, location-based virtual reality entertainment (LBVRE) is enjoying remarkable traction, where spending on out-of-home entertainment is high. VR developers are increasingly prioritizing this avenue to monetize their content.
Guest Article by Colin McMahon
McMahon is an analyst at Greenlight Insights, the global leader in virtual and augmented market intelligence.
The emergence of the LBVRE sector will benefit VR-first studios, as it is another premium channel to distribute their experiences, much like hollywood studios benefit from movie theaters. For instance, Survios is developing Sprint Vector—an experience tailored for competitive, short-round VR play—which would be ideally suited to a VR arcade setting, where games with short learning curves and quick bursts of fun best fit the timed-play business model. Survios, the world’s top-funded VR content studio, said late last year that they’re in the process of rolling their content out to location-based entertainment centers around the world.
In an effort to better understand how application developers in particular are treating LBVRE as a distinct distribution channel, Greenlight Insights asked more than 400 industry executives in its semi-annual State of the VR Industry survey how important LBVRE to their company’s near-term success within the next twelve months. Roughly 36% rated LBVRE as an ‘important’ distribution strategy.
Furthermore, we found survey respondents that were working on VR games are more likely to say that LBVRE is ‘very important’ than those working on cinematic VR content.
Based on Greenlight Insights March 2017 forecast, LBVRE is expected to grow in revenues to $1.2 billion in 2021, propelled by commercial and consumer spending on VR technology, content and services at cinemas, arcades, and other venue attractions.
Detailed developments and forecasts of the VR industry are covered extensively in the 2017 Virtual Reality Industry Report, co-authored by Greenlight Insights and Road to VR.
In August of last year, Valve created the SteamVR licensing program to allow any developer to create their very own SteamVR tracked object. At that time, Valve partnered with Synapse, a Seattle-area product development firm, to provide a mandatory training program for all SteamVR licensees. Road to VR met with Synapse’s electrical engineering program lead and SteamVR Tracking instructor, Doug Bruey, to talk about the tracking system and how it will be used by companies in the future.
From his experience teaching the SteamVR Tracking course, Bruey has an inside view on what companies are doing with the technology and when we might begin to see the fruits of their labor.
Road to VR:
How many students went through the SteamVR tracking training course?
Doug Bruey:
We had 15 courses with 149 attendees from 113 different companies.
Road to VR:
What was the mix of the students by their respective industries?
Doug Bruey:
It was really varied. I would say it’s 50% from gaming, but from the earliest classes we saw people from a variety of different markets. We’ve seen people from the automotive industry, advertising, athletics, gaming, computers, education, hospitals, industrial training and farming. We’ve had a couple different NASA contractors come through who were working on training simulations and setups for astronauts. There’s usually a pretty big part of the class that will be working on gaming and gaming accessories but the other half will come from other markets that you may not have expected.
What’s the best guess for when the first product will come out from one of these course graduates?
Doug Bruey:
I would guess that you might expect to see something announced at the end of this year. The typical product cycle being about 18 months. Since people started taking this course in the fall of last year, once they get back and get started, I would expect you might start to see some products being announced and released towards the end of this year and beginning of next.
Road to VR:
Getting to Seattle is a difficulty for some VR startups. Is having a remote course something that you would consider providing in the future?
Doug Bruey:
It’s something that we’d be willing to do if there were people in who are interested in bringing us out. In March, Valve announced that the course is no longer required for licensees because the documentation has been dialed in well enough and the tools have been refined enough that people can pick it up and get the work started up on their own. Since that happened, we’ve seen a drop off in demand for the course because people don’t have to take it. They can go off and do it on their own.
We think the course can really accelerate the development effort and make sure that companies are really on the fast track for things they need to learn up front and to avoid any pitfalls. But we are a product development firm as well as a technical training firm, so if people are able to pick up the documentation and run with it and do the work they want to do, then the more power to them really. This technology will have wider access in the marketplace because there are fewer barriers to getting started.
Doug Bruey at the Synapse SteamVR Tracking training course
Road to VR:
You’ve produced some prototype hardware for the course and that seems like something that people would still like to have access to. Is there any way for people to purchase or acquire that from Synapse?
Doug Bruey:
We’ve developed prototype circuit boards and built that into a [tracked] reference object. Licensees get access to all the design files and they get access to everything they need to build it up themselves. If they want to buy hardware off-the-shelf, that reference design has been picked up by Triad Semiconductor. That is the group that developed the ASIC for the photo-sensor and you can buy those and the circuit boards themselves directly from Triad Semiconductor. We’ve developed the designs and Triad is producing them for retail.
Last year at Steam Dev Days, Valve unveiled the knuckle controllers. Is that something that Synapse had a role in developing?
Doug Bruey:
Insofar as the new controller from Valve is based off of the electrical and firmware architecture that Synapse helped develop: we’ve definitely been involved in that way. But the product development, in terms of its ergonomics and its mechanics and controls and all the things that make that a unique product, that is a Valve effort.
Road to VR:
What are you excited for in the future of virtual and augmented reality?
Doug Bruey:
I’m excited to see how it moves into other markets and what kind of solutions it creates in places that nobody expected. Just like gaming is the tip of the spear in the performance of PCs, people take advantage of that in order to improve completely different computing areas. I see the same thing happening with VR.
On the market side, gaming is going to drive VR forward and once it becomes commercially viable at a consumer price point, then people with fantastic ideas in therapy or medical devices or cinema or any of these other areas, then they are going to get access to that technology because it will be reduced to a price that they can afford to play around with and develop on. At that point, we’ll see whole new solutions pop up in those areas. I’m really interested to see where VR finds its unique place in these other market verticals.
The other part of the other part of it that I’m really interested to see is where it’s going to drive technology, too. We have these ultra-high resolution displays on our laptops and our brain thinks “Wow, I can’t tell the difference between them anymore because my eyes can’t see the pixels.” Where does the display technology go from here? I think it’s interesting how we are going to need something like 16K displays because our eyes are so close to them. In order to get that retina-display resolution in a VR setting, we are going to need even higher resolutions.
The other thing is there are different video compression methods that are needed. Right now, for Netflix and other online video distribution platforms, latency isn’t a problem, so they can use compression methods that work across multiple frames. They get incredibly high compression ratios in order to deliver that content, but with VR the drive is always going to be how do I get that tether off of my system? How do I become as unencumbered as possible with no wire and hopefully no backpack on my back? If you do that and you want to communicate that video wirelessly, especially when you get up to 4K or higher, it’s going to be an incredible amount of data. It also needs to be delivered with incredibly low latency, down below 25 milliseconds or so, and so you can’t afford to wait to offer up multiple frames for your compression algorithm. You need to be able to do your compression in a smarter, lower latency way. I think we’re going to start to see some really interesting development in VR compression and ultimately gaming in general.
VR is going to again be the tip of the spear, it’s going to be driving the lowest latency possible. But then who knows what people are going to find use for that in other applications, from gaming to anything else that is trying to deliver really low latency video.
The keynote from Unity’s Vision VR/AR Summit yesterday showcased just how far Unity is reaching into non-gaming content when it comes to augmented and virtual reality. The person who is in charge of Unity’s xR strategy is Tony Parisi, who is a co-founder of VRML and a long-time open web advocate. Tony has long been interested in using VR for artistic expression and storytelling, and the keynote speakers highlighted the range of diversity of immersive technologies ranging from NASA JPL to car companies to the NFL to graphic novel comic books to immersive storytelling to construction to the big tech players including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF VR PODCAST
I had a chance to catch up with Tony at Sundance earlier this year to talk about his approach to leading VR & AR strategy at Unity, and moving immersive technologies beyond just entertainment. Anyone who knows Tony can say that he wouldn’t have taken this job at Unity if there wasn’t some long-term open web strategy involved, but he wasn’t prepared to provide any specifics on it yet. But it’s safe to assume that it’s on the roadmap, especially with the recent news that the co-creator of WebGL & WebVR, Vlad Vukicevic recently joined Unity’s emergent technology group.
Though there’s surely many talents folks at Valve responsible for the company’s VR initiatives, over the last several years Chet Faliszek has become a front-facing evangelist and go-to spokesperson for VR at Valve. Now after 12 years with the company, Faliszek has departed.
“[It was] nothing exciting or drama filled,” he told the publication. “I worked there 12 years, shipped a bunch of great games and some amazing hardware and wanted to change things up. There’s no news on what’s next etc, I will let you know when that happens.”
Traveling the world to conferences promoting VR and dealing with developers & press, Faliszek was notably the face to introduce the world to the HTC Vive in a video accompanying the launch of the system. With his latest role as a respected evangelist for Valve’s VR initiatives, we hope to see him stay within the VR sector, however he’s done plenty more in his 12 years at Valve, with writing credits on Half-Life 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead series and more.
GamesIndustry.biz notes that Faliszek’s departure comes not long after two other Valve writers.
Working with his long time friend Eric Wolpaw, with whom he ran hugely influential gaming site Old Man Murray, and author Mark Laidlaw, (and later Jay Pinkerton and Ted Kosmatka) Faliszek and his contemporaries defined Valve’s incredible story writing for its formative years.
Faliszek’s departure was preceded by both Wolpaw and Laidlaw, with Wolpaw leaving in February and Laidlaw departing last year. Like them, Faliszek has given no indication of what may come next […]
At VRLA 2017, Unity CEO and games industry vet John Riccitiello dumped a little cold water wisdom on the hype surrounding the red-hot VR industry. Riccitiello believes VR is coming and it will be huge, but advises that developers stay focused on survival and steer clear of the hype if they want to seize the incredible opportunities in front of them.
There’s a reason people are so excited about VR. Not only are there now a handful of high-end tethered and mobile VR headsets available to consumers—and among them there’s already millions of units in the hands of real customers—but the world’s leading technology companies have announced major VR initiatives, along with the venture capital sector investing in AR/VR companies to the tune of $1.8 billion in 2016 alone.
But, the industry is still in its infancy and still seeking a firm footing that will truly form an ecosystem: a self-sustaining web of hardware builders, software developers, and consumer demand.
John Riccitiello is the CEO of Unity Technologies, one of the world’s leading game engines. Before that he served as both COO and CEO of Electronic Arts (as well as a number of other CEO positions outside the games industry). Under Riccitello’s leadership, Unity last year raised a $181 million investment, reportedly valuing the company around $1.5 billion. That is to say, Unity, Riccitello vision that leads it, are a very important part of the overall gaming industry.
Photo courtesy VRLA
So what was he doing giving a keynote to a few hundred VR developers at VRLA 2017 last month, which, by the measure of the rest of the games conference industry, is a rather small affair?
It’s not where the VR industry is today that brings Riccitello to VRLA, it’s where he believes it will ultimately go. It’s a belief that started at least as far back as when he advised and invested in Oculus prior to the company’s 2014 acquisition by Facebook. It’s a belief that has lead the Unity game engine to be at the forefront of VR and AR hardware support—including Rift, Vive, PlayStation VR, Gear VR, Daydream, and HoloLens—used by two-thirds of AR and VR apps, according to Riccitello.
Despite that conviction, Riccitello was at VRLA to bring a little veteran wisdom to the young VR industry, using his keynote presentation (heading this article) to urge focus, survival, and avoiding the hype until the ecosystem really starts churning.
What I’m not here to do today is to convince you that AR and VR is going to be a big thing. I’m going to assume we agree on that. What I want to talk to you about is when it’s gonna happen, how it’s gonna happen, and what the ingredients are. The point being: I want to try to lay out a framework that I think will actually help the industry, but beyond that, figure out—when you’re putting resources into this marketplace, when you’re investing your time and hard-earned money—when you can expect a return on investment and what that might look like. I think it’s important that we have that so that we [the industry] don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, and maybe running out of that cash or going bankrupt before we really get a chance to get started.
Naturally, Riccitiello spends a good chunk of time evangelizing the Unity game engine, but starting around 10:30 in his presentation, he digs into his personal vision of when the VR industry will take off in earnest, and argues that industry forecasters have taken the VR hype too far.
About a year ago I put this slide up [above]. And it’s not for lack of enthusiasm for the AR and VR world that I own the white line and the industry forecasters own the red line. One of the challenges I think we’re risking right now is so much enthusiasm that’s out there in the marketplace has people forecasting crazy stuff that’s going to happen so near-term that it’s virtually not believable. One of the forecasts I read recently said that the VR/AR marketplace is going to be $164 billion three years from today. Now… the entire game industry, hardware and software—including the juggernaut that is China—is only two-thirds that size, after most of my lifetime building to that point. Now I’m not suggesting [AR/VR] isn’t going to get to $164 billion and then $264 billion, and then $364 billion; I think ultimately the world of AR and VR, the world of 3D compute, is ultimately going to be as big as the internet—it’s going to be trillions, but we’re not there yet, and we have to measure ourselves. So if you look at the shape of my line there, through at least 2022 or thereabouts, I’m a little under the industry forecast. So if you happen to be an industry analyst, and if they show up to events like this, look… I think it hurts us to the degree at which people write articles for the major press and say that our industry is underperforming […] and we should write this off. It is going to work. It’s just not going to work in the timeframe that we like to talk about.
Riccitiello addressed an audience of developers and industry insiders during his keynote at VRLA 2017 | Photo courtesy VRLA
There’s early hardware out now which has allowed what Riccitiello calls a “developer focused industry” to begin slowly growing. But for serious consumer backing, he hones in on the idea of a key “price to content” ratio which has not yet landed in favor of broad consumer adoption.
[…] price and content is absolutely critical for the understanding of when our industry is gonna get to some reasonable level of maturity, and let me explain a little bit of what I’m talking about. Now, price can mean a couple of different things, but ultimately when you’re spending $1,500 or $2,000 to put a brand new tower PC under your desk and you’re tethering it to the back of your head through a head mounted display […] that’s a lot of money. It’s really hard to come up with a product in any form of technology—other than like a brand new car—that sells in any significant volumes at price points like that. The price point is gonna have to come down. […] CPU, GPU, head mounted display—the whole kit—I believe has got to be significantly under $1,000 for the consumer.
And then he turns his attention to today’s blockbuster content creators. When do major franchises and the world’s best content makers start creating serious content for AR and VR? Not until they can justify it with at least a promise of a hundred million devices, Riccitiello says.
Some of the great applications that will show up in AR and VR (and did show up in gaming and mobile) were written by very small teams. And they were ridiculously innovative. But markets matured to scale when major developers brought out their version of Star Wars or Marvel or these other things, and a lot of times these things can cost $20, $30, $40, $50… $100 million to build—all of the sci-fi or superhero movies cost over $100 million to build. And for those products to show up—for them to have a reasonable chance of penetrating a market well enough to break even or better—[…] if there isn’t at least a very near-term probability of 100 million devices in the marketplace that can play it, they won’t build it. They won’t build it because it can’t make money. And so, what needs to change for our market to get to a place that makes any sense at all for you to get the return on investment you want, is we’re gonna need to see the promise of that first 100 million [devices], and then the promise of the second 100 million. A couple hundred million devices creates an umbrella for the entire industry to flourish. And I think we’re a few years away from that.
Photo courtesy VRLA
So when does that happen? When does an individual AR/VR platform bring together the best of the what’s out there today at a price point less than $1,000 dollars and begin to point toward that 100 million device mark?
My sense is we’re going to see that in full flower in 2019, and we’re going to see the beginnings of that shape [of device adoption] in 2018. […] it will happen, it’s guaranteed to happen. It won’t happen at the time-table that people tell us it’s going to happen. It’s going to be slower than that because the pieces still need to come together.
And finally Riccitiello turns toward the exciting opportunity that even the smallest developers find themselves in today. He talks about the hardware makers who are putting out devices today, even when the content isn’t ready for prime time.
[…] if you run into anybody that works for Oculus, or anybody that works for Vive, or Samsung working on Gear, or Magic Leap folks etc. These guys have invested billions. Absolutely invested billions and they have many billions to go. My friend Clay [Bavor, VP of VR] at Google, he’s investing and building… he’s creating something. You know what he’s creating? He’s not creating Google VR. Brendan [Iribe, Head of Rift] and his team are not creating Facebook VR. Gabe [Newell, head of Valve] are not creating VR for Valve. They’re creating the opportunity for you to be in the same position that EA and Activision were in the early ’80s when they created their companies to get the game industry off the ground. They’re creating the same opportunity that [mobile game giants] Supercell and Machine Zone and King had in the world of mobile to get their companies off the ground. This is a simple equation; they created the opportunity, you will create the industry, and I can’t wait.
UploadVR opened up their new 20,000 square foot Upload LA co-working space in April. I had a chance to catch up with co-founders Taylor Freeman and Will Mason as VRLA to get the inside scoop. Mason told me that opening up this huge co-working space in Los Angeles represents an energetic shift from the VR technology born out of Silicon Valley to focusing on content & storytelling in VR.
LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF VR PODCAST
UploadVR’s first co-working space, The Upload Collective, was opened in San Francisco during GDC in 2016, and Mason said that they quickly outgrew the space. The Upload LA space will allow them to have a lot bigger educational and training initiatives without having to completely rearrange their space for every event. Upload LA is a vertically-integrated co-working space that has access to hardware, mixed reality studio, audio mixing studio, and immersive entrepreneurs that hopes to incubate many smaller startups and content studios. It’s proven to be a winning combination for UploadVR considering that all of their dedicated office space was accounted for just a couple days after launching, and they’ll have floating desk space available until it runs out.
UploadVR plans on continuing to grow and expand their physical spaces to new markets, but the space in Los Angeles will be sure to hold many events, talks, and parties for the years to come. You can get a sense of the space from this launch video as well as some photos of their space after their grand opening.
If you don’t already know Cliff Bleszinski from his involvement with the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War franchises, you may remember him from Oculus’ 2012 Kickstarter video. Now under the banner of his own studio, Boss Key Productions, Bleszinski says he’s been seeking funding to develop a big budget VR title.
According to Gamasutra, who watched long time game designer address attendees of the Reboot Develop conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Bleszinski says he’s been into VR since the ’80s and hopes that this latest resurgence of the tech will be the time that it succeeds.
Bleszinski indeed believes in the technology. In fact, he personally invested in Oculus, and was among a number of high-profile gaming industry vets to make an appearance in the 2012 in the Oculus Rift Kickstarter video.
Bleszinski in the Oculus Rift Kickstarter video | Photo courtesy Oculus
Despite his early enthusiasm, Bleszinski hasn’t shown much interest in developing his own VR game, instead spending the last several years working under his newly formed Boss Key Productions studio on the PC FPS, LawBreakers, which is expected to launch in 2017. But it seems development of a VR game is not out of the question as Bleszinski says he’s been seeking funding to create a big budget VR title, though the ‘big budget’ part may present a problem.
“What you’re seeing right now is a lot of the wave shooter game[s]—‘here’s a wave of robots or zombies.’ They’re great, but VR, when it comes to the trajectory of the industry, is mimicking the arcade games of the ’80s. If you want to make a good VR game, start there, and move on to what’s next.”
The challenge is creating a game that goes beyond those wave shooters and tech demos that Bleszinski talks about. Gamasutra reports that he’s been pitching a game to investors, but having trouble finding investors willing to back the budget that he knows he needs to develop a game of that scope. “Unfortunately this costs a lot of money,” he said at the conference.
Bleszinski (middle right) and Boss Key Productions developers present at GDC 2016 | Photo courtesy Official GDC (CC BY 2.0)
In an early ecosystem like VR, major productions are risky because the addressable market is small compared to the wider gaming ecosystem. Facebook, Sony, and HTC—all who have VR ecosystems to jumpstart—are actively investing in the creation of high-quality VR content, but traditional game publishers and only dipping their toes into the water at this point, and will likely continue to do so until the VR install base sees significant growth.
Bleszinski has some ideas about what’s keeping VR from taking off at present, including the need for systems that are easier to use, and games that are designed for comfort.
“Oculus requires me to re-set it up on a regular basis,” he said. “If you remember VCRs, your parents could just barely connect it—they couldn’t even set up the clock […] are they going to figure out how to set up a VR headset?”
“Some people say ‘you just need to get your VR sea-legs’ [in order to avoid nausea in VR]—I say no, if you’re saying that and you’re a developer, you fucked up [by not designing your game for comfort],” he said.
Despite outlining the challenges faced by VR today, he’s still a believer. “It’ll get better, it’ll get faster. Just give it a little bit of time,” and maybe one day a VR game of his will make others believers too.
In a new Virtual Reality Industry Report, Greenlight Insights forecasts modest VR industry growth in the short term, growing into a major global content marketplace by 2021.
In its new Virtual Reality Industry Report: Spring 2017, Greenlight Insights forecasts total virtual reality revenues to reach $7.2 billion globally by the end of 2017, of which, head-mounted displays (HMDs) will account for $4.7 billion.
Anticipating modest growth in the short term, Greenlight Insights expects the VR industry to grow into a major global marketplace by 2021, reaching $74.8 billion in global revenues, driven in part by the increased spending in several enterprise sectors and in location-based entertainment (LBE) industry.
“We saw mixed results in the global VR industry in 2016—initial sales volume by some high-end manufacturers didn’t quite live up to the hype, while PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR, and low-cost headsets continued to gain traction,” said Clifton Dawson, CEO of Greenlight Insights. “There are turbulent times ahead, but our analysis points to VR achieving critical mass in many markets by 2019, building to a considerable global marketplace five years from now.”
The report, released today in partnership with Road to VR, as well as international contributing firms iResearch (China) and MoguraVR (Japan), includes global hardware, software and services revenue forecasts, as well as findings from a new survey of VR industry professionals. The report also offers disruptive trends to watch in 2017, such as:
New VR headsets powered by Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system will spark demand by enterprise firms for VR-related hardware, software and services.
The introduction of new hardware platforms from top PC manufacturers in late 2017 will accelerate the availability of affordable headsets and VR-ready computers. This will also help achieve a good-better-best pricing strategy for consumers, which should benefit industry stakeholders all along the supply chain.
Consumer reaction to the rapid proliferation of LBE centers, which emerged in 2015, are now a core component of an early distribution marketplace for VR content producers. Greenlight Insights notes rising utilization rates and forecasts LBE centers to become a $1.2 billion segment in 2021.
“Before spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on equipment, new users are turning to LBE centers to experience VR inexpensively and more immersively than they could with an in-home system,” said Eddie Lou, China Market Analyst, Greenlight Insights. “Niche accessories such as full haptic suits, sensory simulators, and specialized controllers will find a home in LBE centers as consumers will be less inclined to purchase expensive hardware. This represents a distinct market opportunity for VR content studios and hardware vendors.”
What’s Inside the Virtual Reality Industry Report: Spring 2017
The Virtual Reality Industry Report: Spring 2017 offers proprietary insights provided by Greenlight Insights’ total focus on the VR/AR technology sector, a mosaic approach with rigorous research methods. The report is grounded by data and includes:
Summary of Greenlight Insights’ new market segmentation framework
5-year global VR hardware and software forecasts
In-depth sections on international markets, including China and Japan
Foreseeable effects following the introduction of new headsets
Insights on how recent product announcements are transforming the technology and market landscape
Findings from Greenlight Insights’ State of the VR Industry survey, the largest continuous global study of industry professionals, including content developers, hardware manufacturers, distributors, media and entertainment providers, and investors.
Arcade Saga, a futuristic sports action game from HTC’s internal Vive Studios development and publishing group, could be coming to PSVR. Launched for the Vive headset in December 2016, the game quickly received Oculus Rift support, and recently saw further optimisations for Oculus Touch. Now wanting to bring the game to PSVR, HTC is going a step above to demonstrate their commitment to platform agnostic VR content.
Photo courtesy HTC
When HTC launched Vive Studios along with Arcade Saga last year, it appeared to be a comparable initiative to Oculus Studios, albeit with an intention to support a broader range of VR applications beyond gaming. While Oculus’ major funding of VR content is focused on that which will be exclusive to its platform, HTC’s strategy is different, as stated on the Vive Studios homepage: “Our interest in VR extends well beyond games and entertainment, covering content that’s intended for all major VR platforms.”
Joel Breton, VP of Content for Vive, has been critical of Oculus’ strategy of funding exclusive titles, stating in a recent interview with Gamespot:
[…] at Vive Studios, we’re platform agnostic, and we encourage developers to be the same. So what I mean by that is [developers should] develop for all VR platforms that make sense. So we create first party content, second party content, and support third party developers. And we encourage all of those, including our own internal studios, to put their content on all platforms because that gives them the best opportunity for two things which are critical. One, to make more money, to generate more revenue, but also to build a community, because beyond money, the most important thing for a developers is to build a community around the game. So by having their content only on one platform, say Vive, they’re going to be blocking out a bunch of the market. So if it’s possible to port your game [to other VR platforms]… then we encourage developers to do that.
He uses Arcade Saga, a first-party title from HTC, as an example, noting its Vive and Rift support, and that he wants to bring the title to PSVR. “We are also talking to Sony about taking [Arcade Saga] to their platform next, and they’ve expressed a willingness to let us do that.”
For that matter, PlayStation VR has a number of its own exclusives—including Batman: Arkham VR which is now launching this month on Vive and Rift—but is far less entrenched in the VR exclusives debate thanks to it being a console-based headset where exclusives are the status quo.
A little more than four months following the launch of Robinson: The Journey, Executive Producer on the title, Elijah Freeman, has departed Crytek for Virtuos, a game and asset production studio. Meanwhile Crytek attempts to get company back on track.
As Executive Producer on the title, Elijah Freeman has worked closely on Crytek’s Robinson: The Journey since before the beginning, back when the company was showing off a VR prototype which would become the precursor to both Robinson and the company’s other VR title, The Climb (2016). Robinson launched back in November on PSVR, and came to the Rift in February.
Elijah Freeman holds a Rift Crescent Bay prototype
Freeman was excited at the opportunity to build Robinson, telling Road to VR back in 2015, “…this is the one IP that in my career is likely to show the most promise. It just opens my imagination as a designer and game developer. It makes me feel childlike…” he said.
But now, a little more than four months after the launch of the title, Freeman has left Crytek for Virtuos, a studio that provides outsourced art, assets, and other development work for game and digital productions. Freeman joins the company as Group Development Director at Virtuos’ Shanghai HQ. There’s no indication at this time that his hiring stemmed from an immediate need for VR talent, though as VR grows, Virtuos may have found that part of his resume appealing. In addition to Crytek, Freeman has also worked at EA and CCP Games during his game development career.
‘The Climb’ Crytek’s other VR title, is also quite gorgeous.
Freeman’s departure doesn’t bode well for more near-term VR game development from Crytek—a true shame for the VR world, as Crytek has made some of VR’s best looking titles to date, including The Climb (2016).
Beyond Robinson’s lukewarm reception, Crytek’s business has recently faced major hurdles. In December the company outlined plans to close a number of studios, calling the action “essential steps we are taking to ensure Crytek is a healthy and sustainable business moving forward…”. In the few months following, four studios closed their doors and one was sold. In February Crytek further announced it would be laying off 15 employees at its Frankfurt HQ in an effort to scale down its publishing team.
Although the company plans to “refocus on its core strengths of multi-platform game development,” the emphasis is on “premium IPs,” likely leaving the presently niche and more risky development of large scale VR titles for better times.
Freeman’s departure is also a blow to our hopes that Robinson: The Journey might one day see an update adding motion controller support, the lack of which was a frequent criticism of the game. Same too for a version of the game officially supporting the Vive, though at least Vive owners look to be able to play the game unofficially through the Revive hack.
Regarding the company’s impressive CryEngine, it will “remain a core pillar of Crytek’s overall strategy, with enterprise licensees and indie developers alike continuing to be served by regular engine updates.” Hopefully those updates will continue to improve the engine’s VR support for developers using or considering using the engine for VR development.
Guest Article by Colin McMahon
Furthermore, we found survey respondents that were working on VR games are more likely to say that LBVRE is ‘very important’ than those working on cinematic VR content.
UploadVR opened up their new 20,000 square foot 
