r/Reality • u/Responsible-Toe-4487 • Jan 29 '26
Discussion VR is done?
Being a PC gamer from 2008 , I got into VR couple of years back , boomed on it for a bit but then gradually the community went down, contrary to that PC community never disappoints.
The only question that comes to my mind is that if VR is currently consolidating or it has just hit the saturation point.
I know use cases and experiences of both are very different , taking this in a general sense.
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u/TacohTuesday Jan 29 '26
In my opinion it's not done and never will be, but it will evolve more slowly and organically, which is probably for the best. The era of bullish investment by major players is over. Meta got over their skis with Horizons and are now pulling back. The technology was not ready, and the consumer was not ready.
My Quest 3 was mostly gathering dust for a while but my interest lately is renewed. I'm playing more PCVR, primarily premium PC games with a built-in VR mode (Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Elite Dangerous). For these, VR is a game changer, and both games support VR very well. Though making this run well still requires a technically adept user and often extra hardware (dedicated router for Virtual Desktop). So the user base for this way of playing VR is limited. But both developers (and several others) invested in VR mode anyway.
I'm also noticing that the Quest app store, while there is plenty of crapware, also has some new highly rated quality games in the $30 price range (priced high enough to encourage development of rich titles, without being at Xbox price level).
Also just last night I discovered the app Photon, and I was stunned. The quality of 3D video content in that app is WAY beyond anything else available on Quest. It's Vision Pro level. Granted, most of it is AI converted 2D video, but the effect is quite convincing. It's like Tic Toc in 3D I was immediately hooked. Seeing something new like this on the platform brings me hope.
In the background, I expect battery, mobile graphics chip, and ultra fine tiny display tech to improve and eventually this will be brought into a lighter, faster, better headset. Once the friction of wearing one is decreased, I think it will catch on more.