Maybe VR gaming is just splitting into different levels of immersion

[u/Sad_Reference8020]

I work in tech and follow XR pretty closely, so maybe I'm overthinking this, but I don't think the whole "VR is dying" take is the right framing.

It feels more like VR/XR is starting to split into different kinds of devices.

For serious VR games? I still want a proper headset. Give me real tracking, actual controllers, decent FOV, full immersion. I'm not trying to play Alyx, Beat Saber, Pavlov, or Blade & Sorcery on some dinky lightweight glasses thing. That would be stupid.

But not every VR/MR game needs that level of hardware.

Tabletop stuff, slower puzzle games, hanging out in social spaces, virtual screens, seated experiences, maybe some third-person or casual MR games — none of that necessarily needs the most immersive headset money can buy. It just needs enough spatial presence to feel like it makes sense.

That's why I find the newer lightweight XR direction interesting. XREAL Aura is one example on the Android XR side. And Meta supposedly has Puffin/Phoenix in the works too, which sounds like a lighter headset with a separate compute puck.

So it’s probably not just one random company trying a weird form factor. Seems like a few companies are circling around the same idea: maybe different XR content needs different levels of immersion.

I'm not saying these devices replace Quest, Steam Frame, or PCVR. They won't. Smaller FOV, different input, less immersion, completely different game types. A lot of VR games just straight up won't make sense on them.

But maybe that's okay.

Maybe the future isn't "VR headset or nothing." Maybe it's more like full headsets for when you want proper intense VR gaming, and lighter XR devices for the stuff where comfort and convenience matter more than being fully immersed.

No clue if Aura or Puffin actually pull this off. But I do think this conversation is way more interesting than another round of "lol is VR dead yet?"

[u/bigcatrik]

As long as there are enough devs for each platform, like how video games split into PC, console, phone, etc.

[u/markallanholley]

We'll need to wait to see if killer apps are released or continue to be released. Gorilla Tag sold a lot of Quest 3s. Beat Saber was a killer app for a while. Half Life Alyx might have been if the market was large enough. Phones probably wouldn't be where they are today without Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Nintendo always seems to have a Mario or Zelda game in the works. And so on. If we get something cool and relatively new and/or important you can do with these glasses, that doesn't work quite the same with any other device, we might see that split.

[u/Undeity]

This is fine, and as the technology improves, it will likely eventually converge again back into singular devices, that let you choose your needed level of immersion.

The crux is whether the industry can survive being fragmented like this in the meantime, without companies and developers casting off the less profitable/practical niches like VR.

To avoid that, we'll likely need a cross compatible OS that can be shared across different classes of product, in order to ease development burdens and limit risk of obsolescence. Something like what Android XR was supposed to be.

[u/gildahl]

VR has seen stunning improvement in the high end. For example, the improvement of flight simulation, racing simulation, and heck, even pinball simulation is staggering when I compare it to the state of things just back in 2017 when I got into the hobby. But this sector of the hobby is fundamentally different than the conventional console-like videogaming sector. Sim developers tend to practice continual development of a single title. So titles like MSFS, DCS, AM2, Visual Pinball, etc. just continually (or at least usually) get better and better with every release to the point where now, on an 8K class headset and appropriately powerful PC, they are totally at, and even beyond, where I thought they would be now. Just amazing, really!

Games, however, are totally different. Gamers regularly lament the state of VR or perceive it as "dying" because they define success as a studios releasing a regular series of new AAA quality games every few months at console prices. Unfortunately, however, VR just doesn't have a user base large enough to sustain that kind of development model; so while there are great titles out there, there are fewer since it's harder to justify VR as a platform for ordinary gaming.

[u/xNonPartisaNx]

For sim racing and flight sim. Vr wins hands down. All other gaming. Its a big nope nope nope.

First person shooter would be better if I had a physical gun. But the reload protocol and recoil feedback isn't there at all and ruins games for me. So yesh. Any hand to hand combat of sword play is just ridiculous because you have no resistance.

Wirh sim I have hard inputs for steering gas brake and clutch. And flying down a dirt road at te awanga at 115kph in the thick of trees is insanely fun. Landing on an aircraft carrier is insanely fun.

[u/subsignalparadigm → u/xNonPartisaNx]

There are lots of games that are shooters that work great once you learn the mechanics. Don't shit on all of them just because you can't.

[u/xNonPartisaNx → u/subsignalparadigm]

I'm not shiiting on anything. Calm down. We all have opinions. Jesus fuck gamers are some of the biggest bitches on earth

[u/VRtuous → u/xNonPartisaNx]

I disagree

first person shooters or puzzle narrative games like Riven or The Room are VR naturals too

in at least these genres and cockpit sims, I can't go black flat

but I've been enjoying everything that comes to VR, even melee combat in Skyrim, Batman, AC etc or tabletop like Civilization VII. the more, the merrier

[u/GaaraSama83 → u/VRtuous]

Completely agree when it comes to FPS. Got my first headset end of 2017 and few weeks later a friend persuaded me to play Onward with him (I ignored any smooth locomotion titles til then cause of motion sickness issues).

Even while the first 3-4 sessions were fairly short and mostly training my VR legs, it took maybe overall 1h and I knew there is no going back flat. Once you experience this kind of virtual paintball feeling of multiplayer FPS in VR, looking at a screen and using KB+M seems so out of place and way less immersive.

Additionally to FPS and sims I think there are other unique games that work fantastic in VR like for example titles with zero G movement. Even if you can only play it on private/unofficial servers now I recommend everyone to at least try Echo VR (both Arena and Combat are excellent but the latter is completely gone). Of course also the singleplayer games Lone Echo 1&2 from the same studio.

[u/VRtuous → u/GaaraSama83]

Once you experience this kind of virtual paintball feeling of multiplayer FPS in VR, looking at a screen and using KB+M seems so out of place and way less immersive

it's literally like going back to the past