Former PlayStation dev David Ranyard warns over VR 'anti-climax'

Former PlayStation VR veteran Dr David Ranyard says that the excitement around VR is ‘slightly over-heated’.

Speaking during the MCV and Develop Podcast, Ranyard, who has worked at Sony London on a string of VR projects and has just set-up his own VR studio, believes that some companies might find VR’s initial few months anti-climatic.

“It feels, in all honestly, slightly over-heated,” he told us during the 30-minute chat, which you can listen to below or download via iTunes.

[ArchangelMike]

The title makes it sound like the guy is desparaging about VR - far from it, he's very excited for where VR will take the industry. He's just saying that it will take time for it to become mainstream and that people should temper their expectations in the mean time.

Sounds very sensible to me. It's always the way with new hardware. You have the launch titles that ship with the device, then there is always a lul period immediately after, for the new games in the pipeline to finish developement and get released. With VR though it seems that already there are over 200 titles in development, which means thatthere should be a steady stream of games within the first 2 years.

I agree though that it will be after about 2 years that we will start seeing truly ground breaking VR experiences across games and other entertainment media - as devs get used to the new hardware.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Yeah. It's sad when things have to be titled or video created in such a way to create views, clicks for ad revenue.

But things always have to start from somewhere. It's like I shouldn't have played pong or Atari until gaming was at an "acceptable level" for some people. I have reserved views on anything new. I expect developers are also keeping their expectations low because they don't know if VR will be a hit.

But developers are jumping in because it's a new way to play. A new option for consuming content. It's a "gold rush" because little companies want to be seen as the leaders in VR. It levels the play field compared to big developers because no one knows who is going to come out with that breakout title like rocket league or minecraft. People expect Sony,EA, Ubisoft, Activision, capcom, namco, etc to lead when it could be hello games,that game company,crytek, etc who could be the game leaders.

All they have to do is make sure the game or content is enjoyable, it works, it's easy to use and follows VR guidelines to not make you ill. That will make any developer successful. And make VR a great addition to modern tech that may or may not replace the way we view things.

[amiga-man]

I think VR will certainly be a hit, the article itself says VR has a future outside of gaming as well, VR is here to stay and has many possibilities, Tech companies see it, software companies see it and it's potential going forward is enormous and companies are falling over themselves grab a piece of the pie.

[Jmanzare]

Just like any new device. I'm sure it will have a few fun games at launch

[nosferatuzodd]

Good read and I agree with what he of to say these are first gen VR devices we need to not get ahead of our selves and set our goal to what we see in sci fi anime like sword art online and when
It's not like that we cry and complain

[S2Killinit]

Title is misleading no?

[G20WLY]

Sure is and it should be changed. My first thought was 'former' PlayStation dev suggesting we cool our hype - could that be bitterness speaking? lol

In actual fact, his words and meaning have been twisted for the sake of generating clicks, which is shameful and potentially damaging to the poor guy's reputation.

[Elda]

I will sit this one out for a while though VR seems interesting but I've yet to even demo it nor have I seen any games that blew my mind to say "I've just got to play this!"I will see how far VR goes far as being successful & to see if any great games start to release for VR.After a couple years have passed & it's proven it's NO GIMMICK & a possible price drop I will dive into the world of VR.