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Gorilla Tag has over a million active daily users, the vast majority on Quest. It is probably the biggest game with the most active users, bigger than Beat Saber. And both of those games could run perfectly fine on a potato. What makes them popular is the gameplay, not the texture detail and polygon count.

Asgard's Wrath 2 got good reviews because of it's improved gameplay and larger scale and scope than the first game. By all accounts it's just a great game, and the graphics that accompany its mechanics are more than sufficient for immersion. People clearly received the game well, it achieved nearly universal acclaim, and reached far more gamers in the process.

I've actually been trying to justify purchasing a PSVR2 since it was announced. PSVR1 was my preferred VR platform. It would be great if all of my purchases, something like $1000 in games and DLC, would actually transfer over to it. I can't even play Astro Bot on PSVR2, and to me that's the only game close to a killer app for Sony's VR platform.

I'm more than well aware of all the PSVR2 has to offer. I love the headset itself, despite not having pancake lenses. Other than that it's probably the best headset to me though. OLED at a fixed 120hz is game-changing, just as the weight and comfort are market-leading, with all the power and processing offloaded to the PS5. There just isn't any software to entice me personally to invest. Horizon is really cool but basically a demo, and I'm not into Gran Turismo, or any racing or flight sims for that matter. They really needed to port Alyx.

Instead I got a PC and Quest 3. Definitely not a perfect solution, and has real tradeoffs from the PS5 that I wish I didn't need to make. Although I can get access to the improved graphics which are definitely a plus with PC, the ergonomics of Quest 3 are not what I'm used to from PSVR. To get even close you need to buy a 3rd party strap and external battery, adding $50 – $100, but even then PSVR remains the high point for comfort. Quest 3 is acceptable with 3rd party accessories though.

However, the Quest's flexibility and cost really set it apart. Being able to use it anywhere, anytime cannot be overstated as a feature, particularly when evangelizing. I have a gaming laptop as well, so I'm fully mobile. AR and hand-tracking are fun to tinker with too, although awaiting more accomplished design to capitalize. Mostly I'm interested in software design, so this setup gives me the broadest range of experience with access to the PC library as well as mobile.

My experience on Quest-native software continues to confirm for me personally that it is the fundamental experience of VR itself which primarily provides immersion, the optics and tracking, followed by software design, and then graphics.

So that is my approach to design. There are so many unsolved design parameters for locomotion, comfort and interaction which need to be designed before VR reaches true mass adoption that are so much more important than raytracing or particle effects. VR is just not "there" as an experience yet, even at the premium level.

My dream hardware would be a wireless unit that houses processing, and batteries offloaded from the headset to the strap like Pico 4, but hot-swappable. I'm sure this is where we'll end up at some point, although the existence of a wireless puck will probably also cause a cascade effect where a family of mobile devices arises to interact with it, so it's something the industry will need to rally around in a comprehensive way. Eventually this puck might even turn into a card which can insert into a further extended family of mobile devices and use cases which will require industry standardization as well.

Either way mobile form factor is undoubtedly the future of VR from my perspective on design and market constraints, although I would agree there should be a much more integrated design approach as you suggest. PSVR2 for instance should work natively with all PS5 games to provide at least a conversion like VorpX or UEVR. That would be a day one purchase for me, for Ratchet and Clank, Astro Bot, and Returnal alone, to say nothing of God of War, Last of Us, Uncharted, etc. Sony first party is amazing.

Similarly, I'd agree that it would be ideal for mobile VR software to be designed from the ground up to scale to more powerful hardware. Asgard's Wrath 2 should work natively on PC, and look better than Asgard's Wrath 1 in doing so. These types of integrated design approaches will be critical to mass adoption, just as transferring libraries from generation to generation will be, as Sony failed to accomplish with the move to PSVR2.

So, I generally look at things more long-term. The market is still a bit of a fractured, evolving mess moving towards a stable form, at this stage mostly waiting for the inherent design constraints of VR itself to be solved. Everything is a compromise right now. I foresee that market coalescing around upgradable and scalable experiences primarily accessed through mobile hardware, but similar to Steam Deck, scalable natively to home console hardware.

The question then is only the rate at which mobile hardware converges with home consoles in the capability to produce more and more convincing VR experiences, to the degree that it no longer matters to most consumers. With any luck, that will arrive around the same time VR's inherent design constraints have been sufficiently solved, but it will remain true that most people will never be willing to spend more than $500 on a VR device, which means that mobile will remain the nexus point for the market.

Playtracker only tracks Gorilla Tag on Steam, and that's still a huge number. There are way more on Quest. Gorilla Tag is very likely the biggest VR game or app of any kind at the moment, due to fun locomotion and social interaction, not graphics.

Nothing you're even trying to say changes that. Claiming it's just kids is like claiming the NES was just successful because of kids. Ok, sure, kids are mostly who plays video games I guess? Do you even have data on that or why it would even be significant to the point? What are you trying to say? Lots of people enjoy Gorilla Tag, it's not that complicated, or at all controversial. The point is a lack photorealistic gorillas clearly hasn't held it back.

Killer apps are not subjective, they're based on purchase and attach rates. It's not about intent, but results. You can plan to make an exclusive and hope it's a killer app all you want, but the proof is only ever in the pudding. Beat Saber and Gorilla Tag are both killer apps for VR across the board, and they are not even platform-specific. PSVR2 just doesn't have anything that interesting that has proven to drive adoption. Sales are simply put quite horrible. That's just how it is.

Game design is not being held back by mobile at this point. Asgard's Wrath 2 had a way bigger scope and scale, and more developed mechanics than Asgard's Wrath 1. The only downgrade was graphics. That's what the whole conversation is about. You think that's holding back VR, meanwhile the number one selling platform by far is mobile VR because even with the tradeoffs it's price point and usability makes it preferable to most consumers. Unfortunately it's much more difficult to port from PC to mobile than vice versa, that's true but if it doesn't hinder actual gameplay I personally don't care since there are far bigger and more fundamental issues with VR to solve in order to achieve mass adoption.

Valve has ported most of their games to home consoles. The benefit is they sell a bunch of games, and get a bunch of gamers familiar with their brand. It's pretty straightforward. Sony even started putting PS games on Steam for the same reason, and unlocked PSVR2 for PC. They have a mutually beneficial relationship, I'm not sure what the hold up is but I'd bet they're working on it. Perhaps Valve is holding it back until Deckard or something.

Mobile phones may not be the future of flat screen gaming, but only due to their screen size and lack of inputs. The Nintendo Switch is by far the biggest selling console of this generation though, and the Steam Deck has continued that ethos encouraging developers to target those mobile platforms for mass adoption of their products. Landing on Switch and being properly optimized for Steam Deck are huge goal posts for developers now. Flexibility and portability in use is a massive feature for users.

I agree that Meta, like Apple and I would say every other big AR/VR developer, is hoping to reach to ultimate goal of an AR device which can be comfortably worn without causing "Glasshole" side glances from passersby. But, that's hardly exclusive from the VR ecosystem, and it is also clearly the far bigger potential market. AR can basically replace every screen in your life after all, in theory at least.

All you need to turn an AR device into a VR device is to turn the lights off, or put some blinders on. Otherwise, aviators have a fine enough FOV for VR and there's no reason to segment that market, it would be like trying to sell both a smart phone and a calculator still. There's no point. But, I really don't think the AR dystopia you fear is particularly imminent anyway. I'm certainly not putting up with ads on my glasses anyway, who knows maybe some people would but I assume it would be like a smartphone with notification settings. The data they pull from your life would be far more valuable than that annoyance is worth, again just like a smartphone.

I do like the Sony hardware, aside from the cord which I would say is a real immersion breaker actually, but I really don't see this support you're talking about. Where are the AAA first party games? Where are their marquis franchises on the platform? Where is the backwards compatibility with PSVR?

Even something as simple as a custom VorpX would be simply for a developer as big and capable as Sony. They just don't seem to be putting any real resources or attention into at this point. Who knows, perhaps there will be a burst of energy at some point when everything is revealed but I don't see it yet.

I think you might have misunderstood on the end point for VR and how I see mobile looping into that. I see mobile as the nexus of the VR ecosystem, not the pinnacle. To be successful in the long-term it will need to offload processing to other devices, and have hot-swappable batteries.

That means from a system design standpoint a mobile "puck" that can communicate wirelessly with a headset, and manage communication with a more powerful processing device such as a home console. It's the convergence point, and will likely become an all-purpose device that both wirelessly, corded, and probably eventually inserted like a cartridge depending on the use case, connects with a whole family of devices including replacing current discrete smartphones. Not replacing home consoles, but converging with them at the system design level to allow extended functionality such as VR and AR.

I mean, it says right on Playtracker’s page for Gorilla tag that they only track it for Steam.

As to their accuracy, yeah of course it’s suspect only the developer really knows the actual numbers, everyone else is guessing.

Anyway, I suspect you’re on your way because it’s clear your whole argument is just fundamentally incorrect, so I suppose good luck to you then growing past pointlessly and hopelessly trying to defend a single platform when they’re all flawed parts of an evolving ecosystem that will look very, very different in a few years.

Yeah, if I were making your argument I would duck out about now too. Many of the biggest VR games could run on an N64 and still be just as involving. Beat Saber, Superhot, VR Chat, Job Simulator, Rec Room, Gorilla Tag, these games could all have PS1 era graphics and no one would care. Your argument just falls flat to begin with.

Yes, graphics do increase immersion but not more than optics, tracking, fun mechanics and engrossing design. This is an argument that has been going on since the Sega does what Nintendon’t days. It’s pointless partisan religiosity. These are not real concerns. What’s holding VR back primarily are a whole host of fundamental VR design problems which need to be solved, not shiny graphics.

More than anything, it just seems like you are religiously opposed to Meta. Which, I get it. I hate them too. Along with other social media run amok unregulated at the hands of billionaire elite aimed at manipulating the general public to their own ends, they are causing actual social degradation threatening societal collapse if it continues unchecked. Add in AI as a tool and if we don’t get a handle on it with common sense legislation like requiring AI to identify itself and not pose as real people, we could be headed for global disaster.

I even use a burner account to login to my Quest, and turn off all optional data aggregation. If it weren’t for all the reasons I already laid out, any Meta device would be last on my list to purchase. But, it is what it is. I hate Microsoft too, and my choices of smartphone are Apple or Google, two of the biggest companies on earth along with Meta steering the future of humanity towards possible oblivion. My only hope is that regulation actually reigns things in as more people become aware of the dangers they pose, especially adding AI into the mix.

For VR specifically I do think it will eventually become a standardized, manufacturer agnostic device like any current 2D display, using internationally regulated protocols for communication. With any luck, it will center on a Steam-type ecosystem with a Steamdeck-like base unit as its nexus for design, and more powerful home consoles that scale to more realistic experiences which . But, that’s just my personal projection based on my own design philosophies, that’s what I aim at for my designs though.

On the Playtracker/Steamdb thing, I really think you’re reading too much into it. For one, Playtracker does not track Meta platforms, so the fact that their numbers disagree with Steamdb is something you need to take up with them not me, or reconcile with the fact that all of these services are estimates, because Steam allows data to be hidden from them in the API, and they don’t track Meta or many other platforms, or even just plain old launching from desktop. To get so personally worked up over the accuracy of different 3rd party trackers just seems to point back to your religious-type marriage to your platform of choice. It seems like basically part of your personal identity at this point, which means you are taking criticism of these platforms as a personal attack . It’s just not that serious.