Virtual Reality

[Asura]

Were the numbers inflated by them giving it away with the Quest 3? It's the Wii Sports of Quest.

Yeah, speaking as someone who is watching the numbers for VR releases like a hawk, I was selfishly disappointed when they announced that it would've been a great test case.

[Neon Ignition]

https://i.imgur.com/cmCzxkR.jpeg

They sold around 1m Quest 3's in the same window so DT probably nailed it, they were mostly freebies

[Neon Ignition]

It's coming closer but I'm not sure they need to sell it at a loss. It's clearly a premium niche headset again so those willing to spend for it likely would do so anyway.

[Asura]

I've basically given up on Deckard at this point. I certainly want it to be true, but it's just been rumour for too long.

[huxley]

They will announce something solid in the next month, Guarantee it as I`ve just ordered a Bigscreen headset

[Neon Ignition]

https://youtu.be/_lGdUBMdQ94

Half Life 3 is doing the rounds again, dropping it here because whilst fans are running again with the possibilities the potential timing of a new Half Life arriving around the same time as Deckard feels like a much more likely indicator of what's coming

[MartyG]

It'll be Half-Life Alyx 2, not Half-Life 3 - I don't know why people would think otherwise - it quite clearly said at the end of the first game that the story would be continuing and if Deckard is bundled with software, which of those two is more likely? It's not Half-Life 3.

[Neon Ignition]

https://vrgamesshowcase.com/

Tomorrow

[Neon Ignition]

[Asura]

Some good stuff there.

Frankly VR has needed a title like that Forefront game for ages; there are a couple on PC but this is the first on standalone. Some good PSVR2 stuff there too.

[Neon Ignition]

https://peoplecanfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250306-current-report-no-2-2025-pcf-group-sas-decision-to-phase-out-its-vr-game-publishing-business.pdf

People Can Fly are abandoning the publishing of VR games citing the market and platform holders pulling investment

[Asura]

https://peoplecanfly.com/wp-content/...g-business.pdf
People Can Fly are abandoning the publishing of VR games citing the market and platform holders pulling investment

Eeeeh... There are a lot of reports coming in of VR developers struggling. In particular, a lot of them are pulling out because Meta themselves aren't paying anyone else to make VR games (they've been splashing the cash less and less for ~2yrs now), instead preferring to pay teams to make games and experiences within Horizon Worlds, which is probably great for both the people who use it regularly.

But that being said... Their decision is likely heavily based on the performance of Bulletstorm VR:

So was it really that terrible? In all honesty, yes. It's an incredibly sloppy, clumsily produced VR port that just about does everything it needs to do in order to be a VR version of Bulletstorm but, as you will see in my video, none of these things are done well at all.

https://www.eurogamer.net/is-bullets...one-says-it-is

I understand it was improved by patches, but even so, you just CAN NOT have a bad release in VR. I don't think there's a sector of digital entertainment which is more connected, more clued-up, more cliquey. I'm not surprised they didn't do well, and it sounds like they deserved it; no-one's gonna eat at a restaurant that serves bad food.

I'm more concerned about the developers having problems who are producing good work.

[Neon Ignition]

After a couple of years of high profile IP end of year releases I'm guessing we'll see that come to an end from this year if the funding has dried up which will mark such a major shift toward cementing VR to being an indie niche pursuit. Given gaming has been Quest's biggest driver to date this is probably Zuck's biggest fumble in terms of driving hardware into hands.

[huxley]

My Bigscreen headset hasn’t shipped yet, chased it up this afternoon and they have told me it’s been delayed. And sent me a link to this

https://x.com/BigscreenVR/status/1902429692021686272

Also told me I can get an immediate refund but advised me to wait until after the announcement.
Added eye tracking?

[Asura]

Added eye tracking?

If they've added eye-tracking without substantially increasing the size/weight, that's going to be a huge improvement. The Beyond and that new Meganex headset both lack it, which is a big problem, as Dynamic Foveated Rendering didn't work quite so well on the Quest Pro (it eats up around as much processing power as it saves) but it can be hugely beneficial on PC.