While there’s a steadily growing number of quality VR games, it’s still well understood that VR is in need of more great content. But what kinds of VR games should developers focus on creating? That’s one of the primary questions we want to help VR devs answer with a survey which aims to understand real VR users.

With a solid two and a half years of high-end consumer VR now under our collective belts, everyone from consumers to developers to headset makers have a much better idea of what the market landscape looks like than prior to headsets actually hitting store shelves. And while the VR space is slowly beginning to amass a collection of quality titles (wave shooters be damned), consumers are still hungry for great content that will whisk them away to memorable virtual worlds.

But what kinds of content is being played the most today, and what do consumers think is still missing? Wanting to help developers understand that question, we’ve created a survey in conjunction with our friends at Greenlight Insights, a VR and AR market intelligence firm. Specifically, this survey is focused on understanding real users of VR headsets, not potential users who don’t actually own and use VR hardware.

Answer the ‘Real VR User’ Survey

The survey will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete and at the end you’ll be entered to win a $150 Amazon gift card. Data collected is anonymous and only used for the purposes of this survey. The more responses the clearer the picture becomes— please share with any friends who also own VR headsets!

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."

  • Seems to be a small issue with the survey – It’s asking me when I purchased HMDs which I marked as never having heard of, rather than the ownes I own.

    • RedcoatTrooper

      Same here

    • benz145

      Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it should be fixed!

  • Michael Ward

    Done! I hope the survey helps. The questions (in my humble) were very broad so I’m not completely sure what could be gleamed from it other than price-points but hopefully it helps. I know what I’m hoping for in VR games and experiences and I’m not sure the questions asked would have demonstrated that to anyone reading my answers. But very cool that people are trying to bring in-demand content to the users.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    Wow that was long but cool.

  • plrr

    I actually have ideas I’d like to voice to devs, but there was little opportunity for that in the form. First of all, the form was very game-centered, and I think it’s important to move away from the game emphasis and try to create new types of applications. Another important thing is that there is game-like content that falls outside of a strict definition of game. I would strongly advice developers to take a look at the story/simulation combination (as in Lone Echo). This is an important novelty, but people don’t seem to recognize that. Also meaningful is ‘free-roaming cinematics’ like The Invisible Hours, or just movies, like Henry.

    • plrr

      Devs might also want to try their hand at art experiences, content for children, and less common game genres, like social simulation games.

    • MosBen

      One of the first things that I show people when I show off my Rift is still either Henry or Dear Angelica, depending on their age. I don’t think that I’d be super interested in feature length VR stories, but I would love a series of, say, 10 episodes at 10 minutes per episode.

    • R FC

      yes, i want experiences, these can be more profound than genre games. the allure of virtual reality for me is to experience an alternate reality, more of a meditative state than killing things in a game.

      really enjoyed some of the experiences i’ve sampled on PCVR and mobile VR, this was “Paul.Paul.Act 1.0” on Daydream, very cool…

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/53015f0eefada2adfc7374f70c83d058d4a7eda87e4e8009b927deba650f4711.jpg

    • I agree that we don’t want only games. If we continue with this gaming trend, VR will just become an add-on for gamers. We want it to become widespread instead

      • MosBen

        I think that at this point in VR’s life it’s natural that they’re focusing on games and targeting gamers. High quality VR currently requires pretty beefy hardware, and the consumers who already own such hardware, or are willing to buy it, are gamers. I suspect that when we start to have devices like Oculus’ Santa Cruz that don’t require a connection to a PC or gaming console that we’ll see more productivity and non-gaming experiences.

    • Leigh Ann Smith

      Ditto. I operate a wedding venue. What if couples could decorate the room by moving furniture, adding linens, centerpieces, uplighting, and other decor? For that matter, the bride could choose avatars for the wedding party, then choose gowns, hairstyles, and bridesmaid dresses. Specific venues could be added, too. They could create a preview of their reception!

      #makelovenotwar ;-)

      • plrr

        This seems like something that could be made very visually realistic. That’s an important goal to attain. Many people will find very artificial-looking environments unsatisfactory for most non-gaming purposes.

    • VR4EVER

      This! +1

  • MosBen

    Took the survey. I get the impression that this is something Road to VR set up. How will the results be shared with the VR industry? Will the results and data be published here, or somewhere else? Will it be provided directly to software/hardware developers?

    As for what I’d like to see in the VR space, I’d love more platforming games like Lucky’s Tale, as well as LucasArts-style adventure games, that is to say, story-driven games that don’t involve combat and primarily focus on interaction with the environment, and which are funny. Also, I’ve mentioned this previously, but I would really like some non-sim VR racing games. In flat gaming I’m not skilled enough to do super well in sims, nor do I really have much interest in driving realistically, which I do every day. But I do like kart racing or racing combat games.

    • benz145

      Yeah we were the impetus for the survey and worked with Greenlight to define what we are trying to answer. This stemmed from seeing one too many VR games (either released or in development) which sound nice on paper because they hit popular non-VR gaming beats (Hero Shooter, Battle Royale, MOBA, etc), but don’t seem to deliver engaging VR experiences that really work well with the medium.

      Also to understand if there’s a gap between what people are playing (because it’s what’s available), vs. what they want to be playing (that which isn’t available).

      • VR4EVER

        Thanks for putting this up! But I had the feeling that you focused to much on the same old videogame categories. Please, leave this path. There will be enough shooting, RPGs and puzzle games coming and they will be the same as on 2D but with a headset on. VR is more than that and you should now it…

  • I’m doing it to help you and the community. But take in count that we would need a survey done to general consumers, not between us innovators

  • Alan Harrington

    One of the very few surveys i would even consider taking part in :-)

    • benz145

      Much appreciated : )

  • Cangar

    I was also missing a part where I can enter free ideas, so I just put them in the last “other” field. While we’re at it: What do you other guys think of a cross-platform game that complements both flatscreen and VR players? I like to play with my friends, but they don’t own a VR, so I always have to decide if I wanna play cool VR stuff or with my friends. What about an engaging cross platform game, e.g. they play an RTS, and I’m a hero in their battlefield, we have to coordinate and work together to beat other teams or AI opponents, kinda like WarCraft 3, but the VR player plays the hero. I’d pay good money to see this, and I could finally play with my brother again!

    • plrr

      It seems developers should be able to make more money if they make their VR games playable on the flat screen as well… And if one platform will make players less successful in competition, they might consider separating the player groups, or let them have different roles in the game… It certainly seems it should be good for VR and the developers to have VR games “approach” mainstream gamers.

    • benz145

      I think it’s a great idea. I have been suggesting for a long time that a game where a few VR players play with many non-VR players would be smart because of the difference in population.

  • MadMax1998

    Some of the survey choices are not very representative of my experience… for example, “how often do you use your Rift, every day or ONCE a week?” Well how about several days per week?

    • benz145

      Sorry about that, try to pick which is the most accurate, event if not perfectly accurate.

  • VR4EVER

    Please create new worlds to dive into and roam around. Let the unexpected happen in the environment (the unstable/ bugged world of the Transference demo is great)!

    Portal on 2D was outstanding because of the concept! Try to create something very unique for VR and leave the old beaten path!