This month, after experiencing the same hot and embarrassing CJ as in previous years, the VR HK circle has ushered in a series of new product launches and events, which makes people feel that VR seems to be starting fire again. However, behind the launch of various new hardware, everyone understands a simple and simple reason: no good content, no matter how good the hardware will not be sold. Generally, after the end of CJ, everyone will want to talk about the game, so today I will talk about VR games, but my perspective is actually based on such a problem - domestic VR game developers should not continue to develop VR games, if you want to continue, what kind of VR games are better to develop?
Here I first give my own answer: VR all-in-one is the best choice for domestic developers.
PC/host VR games are not preferred
Speaking of VR games, according to the platform to divide, nothing more than three categories: PCVR, host VR and mobile VR.
In terms of PCVR, from the hardware, it mainly includes Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE and Microsoft's MR series devices; from the platform, it is mainly Steam, Oculus Home, VIVEPORT and Microsoft's MR platform.
Friends familiar with PCVR devices know that the cost of PCVR is very high (VR device + high-end computer), and the threshold for PCVR is very high. Most people can almost set up devices like HTC VIVE. These two points actually determine PCVR. Currently only suitable for a very small number of geeks and VR core players (please note that it is not a core player), for the majority of consumers, PCVR is really out of reach, and this situation is especially suitable for the Chinese market. Based on the reality, if domestic developers want to develop PCVR games, their main target group can only be overseas players. They must not only face giants like B (radiation, the developers of the Elder Scrolls) and Ubisoft. It is also difficult to compete with the talented team of Beat Saber and Raw Data.
In terms of host (PS) VR, although the cost of hardware has dropped relatively (TV + PS4 + PSVR), it is almost the most demanding group of users in the game circle - the core players. The taste of these guys is undoubtedly the most embarrassing, they have high requirements for the quality of the game, so that the works of some big factories will often become the object of being sprayed. What is even more frightening is that Sony's quality control requirements for PSVR games are almost abnormal. The startup team may have closed down after completing the approval process of Sony. Therefore, in China, if you want to develop host VR games, only the real old gun team (with years of game development experience) and the well-funded team (can get the product available for sale) can try, and these teams still face blessings. Giants like B, Ubisoft and Capcom.
In addition, there is a point that is very critical. Due to hardware limitations, PSVR games cannot fully exploit all the features of VR. This is due to the lack of performance of the PS4's mainframe, and the fact that the old design of the PS Move is too restrictive in terms of interaction (there is no disc or rocker button on the Move handle). Friends who played "The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim" VR version with Move will definitely understand what I mean. It is really bad to use the joystick or cursor to select items after opening the menu! Therefore, under the current situation, the best way to experience PSVR games is to use the traditional PS4 controller, which adds a lot of problems to game developers.
In addition to these factors, there is one more thing to mention, that is the cost! The cost of developing PCVR and host VR games will only be higher than developing PCs and console games of the same size, and it is not suitable for small and medium-sized teams at this stage. Of course, some teams have chosen to reduce the amount of game size, but IMHO, now if a PC / host VR game can still be less than 2 hours, then why should players buy such a game? For Steam players, it is possible to choose a refund within 2 hours (if the game lasts no more than 2 hours), then how can the developer make a profit?
Say a bunch, let me briefly summarize. Relatively speaking, domestic developers will have the following disadvantages in the direction of choosing to develop PC/host VR games. Of course, please ignore them.
1. There are few domestic users and many overseas users, and it is difficult to make products that meet the tastes of overseas users;
2. Sony's review process for content is too strict, and small teams can't afford it;
3. The cost is bound to be high in the case of ensuring the size of the game, and the small team can't afford it.
There are more opportunities for mobile VR games
After talking about the PC/host game, let's talk about the all-in-one. As for how the one-piece machine has a future than the mobile phone box, I have said many articles in the past, and I will not repeat them here. It should be noted here that the mobile VR game mentioned in this article refers to the all-in-one VR game.
Compared with the PC/host VR hardware, the price of the all-in-one machine is very cheap. From 1000-4000 price consumers can find the corresponding models. At the same time, the threshold is very low, and it can be used up, and this year many manufacturers' platforms are used. Alipay payment has been supported. After the user wears the all-in-one machine, he enters the application store. After setting the binding account, you can easily purchase related application products with Alipay, which is very convenient. At the same time, due to the many advantages of the all-in-one machine, each manufacturer is very optimistic about its sales forecast. According to the calculation of 100,000 units per manufacturer in the future, the Chinese market will only reach at least 500,000 in the next year (I may The problem is too conservative.) The equipment base problem is gradually improving.
Compared with the disadvantages of domestic developers in developing PC/host VR games, developing mobile VR games obviously has the following advantages:
1. One machine has many domestic users, and domestic developers can develop products suitable for domestic users;
2. It is relatively faster and easier to log in to each of the all-in-one content platforms;
3. The cost of developing an all-in-one game is lower;
4. In terms of competition, there are few big companies involved in making mobile VR games, and entrepreneurial teams can give more creative advantages in terms of gameplay and style.
Here I also need to talk about the volume of mobile VR games. My personal point of view is that at this stage, whether it is PC/host VR games or mobile VR games, the game size should be at least 2 hours longer. This is because the platform like Steam has a 2-hour refund rule. On the other hand, I will use the movie to calibrate the VR game (for reasons I will talk about later). The length of a movie is about 2 hours, so one is The full VR game duration should be at least 2 hours. Less than 2 hours, the player will feel that the game is not complete enough, more than 2 hours, the player can not play, the team production cost is too high. Of course, except for a few masterpieces.
The reason why I will use the movie benchmark VR game is mainly because of the price. Take the example of the game on the Xiaomi VR machine, the top masterpiece "Virtual Reality N-throne" is priced at 63 yuan, the puzzle masterpiece "Forgotten Border" is 30 yuan, the domestic FPS masterpiece "Mercury" 36 yuan, the domestic FPS masterpiece "Yizhuang Party" "30 yuan, my favorite "Dream Flight" 10 yuan. From these prices, we can see that the price of a mobile VR game is about the same as the price of a movie ticket, and the best game is equivalent to the most expensive blockbuster. The average game is equivalent to an ordinary movie. This is what I said earlier, why the duration of VR games is about 2 hours, because consumers will compare this way: buy a game and watch a movie, which is more valuable. If the game's volume is up to standard and the quality is good, the player will accept it and then forward it, and vice versa.
Based on the above comparison, I came to the conclusion at the beginning of this article. Finally, I would like to say more, if you are a developer, do you remember the shock of the first contact with VR in 2015 and 2016? Maybe you just got the idea of making VR games because of this shock. Then maybe you gave up VR because of the lack of equipment base, and now we finally ushered in a more convenient and more suitable device for C-end users. At this point in time, I suggest that you at least try to experience the popular one on the market again. The product, perhaps the original shock and passion will reappear. Compared with the mobile game market that is already competing in the Red Sea, isn't it an excellent opportunity for the PC/host VR market, which is also competitive and has insufficient equipment base, to be more suitable for the C-end user's all-in-one platform?
Here I first give my own answer: VR all-in-one is the best choice for domestic developers.
PC/host VR games are not preferred
Speaking of VR games, according to the platform to divide, nothing more than three categories: PCVR, host VR and mobile VR.
In terms of PCVR, from the hardware, it mainly includes Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE and Microsoft's MR series devices; from the platform, it is mainly Steam, Oculus Home, VIVEPORT and Microsoft's MR platform.
Friends familiar with PCVR devices know that the cost of PCVR is very high (VR device + high-end computer), and the threshold for PCVR is very high. Most people can almost set up devices like HTC VIVE. These two points actually determine PCVR. Currently only suitable for a very small number of geeks and VR core players (please note that it is not a core player), for the majority of consumers, PCVR is really out of reach, and this situation is especially suitable for the Chinese market. Based on the reality, if domestic developers want to develop PCVR games, their main target group can only be overseas players. They must not only face giants like B (radiation, the developers of the Elder Scrolls) and Ubisoft. It is also difficult to compete with the talented team of Beat Saber and Raw Data.
In terms of host (PS) VR, although the cost of hardware has dropped relatively (TV + PS4 + PSVR), it is almost the most demanding group of users in the game circle - the core players. The taste of these guys is undoubtedly the most embarrassing, they have high requirements for the quality of the game, so that the works of some big factories will often become the object of being sprayed. What is even more frightening is that Sony's quality control requirements for PSVR games are almost abnormal. The startup team may have closed down after completing the approval process of Sony. Therefore, in China, if you want to develop host VR games, only the real old gun team (with years of game development experience) and the well-funded team (can get the product available for sale) can try, and these teams still face blessings. Giants like B, Ubisoft and Capcom.
In addition, there is a point that is very critical. Due to hardware limitations, PSVR games cannot fully exploit all the features of VR. This is due to the lack of performance of the PS4's mainframe, and the fact that the old design of the PS Move is too restrictive in terms of interaction (there is no disc or rocker button on the Move handle). Friends who played "The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim" VR version with Move will definitely understand what I mean. It is really bad to use the joystick or cursor to select items after opening the menu! Therefore, under the current situation, the best way to experience PSVR games is to use the traditional PS4 controller, which adds a lot of problems to game developers.
In addition to these factors, there is one more thing to mention, that is the cost! The cost of developing PCVR and host VR games will only be higher than developing PCs and console games of the same size, and it is not suitable for small and medium-sized teams at this stage. Of course, some teams have chosen to reduce the amount of game size, but IMHO, now if a PC / host VR game can still be less than 2 hours, then why should players buy such a game? For Steam players, it is possible to choose a refund within 2 hours (if the game lasts no more than 2 hours), then how can the developer make a profit?
Say a bunch, let me briefly summarize. Relatively speaking, domestic developers will have the following disadvantages in the direction of choosing to develop PC/host VR games. Of course, please ignore them.
1. There are few domestic users and many overseas users, and it is difficult to make products that meet the tastes of overseas users;
2. Sony's review process for content is too strict, and small teams can't afford it;
3. The cost is bound to be high in the case of ensuring the size of the game, and the small team can't afford it.
There are more opportunities for mobile VR games
After talking about the PC/host game, let's talk about the all-in-one. As for how the one-piece machine has a future than the mobile phone box, I have said many articles in the past, and I will not repeat them here. It should be noted here that the mobile VR game mentioned in this article refers to the all-in-one VR game.
Compared with the PC/host VR hardware, the price of the all-in-one machine is very cheap. From 1000-4000 price consumers can find the corresponding models. At the same time, the threshold is very low, and it can be used up, and this year many manufacturers' platforms are used. Alipay payment has been supported. After the user wears the all-in-one machine, he enters the application store. After setting the binding account, you can easily purchase related application products with Alipay, which is very convenient. At the same time, due to the many advantages of the all-in-one machine, each manufacturer is very optimistic about its sales forecast. According to the calculation of 100,000 units per manufacturer in the future, the Chinese market will only reach at least 500,000 in the next year (I may The problem is too conservative.) The equipment base problem is gradually improving.
Compared with the disadvantages of domestic developers in developing PC/host VR games, developing mobile VR games obviously has the following advantages:
1. One machine has many domestic users, and domestic developers can develop products suitable for domestic users;
2. It is relatively faster and easier to log in to each of the all-in-one content platforms;
3. The cost of developing an all-in-one game is lower;
4. In terms of competition, there are few big companies involved in making mobile VR games, and entrepreneurial teams can give more creative advantages in terms of gameplay and style.
Here I also need to talk about the volume of mobile VR games. My personal point of view is that at this stage, whether it is PC/host VR games or mobile VR games, the game size should be at least 2 hours longer. This is because the platform like Steam has a 2-hour refund rule. On the other hand, I will use the movie to calibrate the VR game (for reasons I will talk about later). The length of a movie is about 2 hours, so one is The full VR game duration should be at least 2 hours. Less than 2 hours, the player will feel that the game is not complete enough, more than 2 hours, the player can not play, the team production cost is too high. Of course, except for a few masterpieces.
The reason why I will use the movie benchmark VR game is mainly because of the price. Take the example of the game on the Xiaomi VR machine, the top masterpiece "Virtual Reality N-throne" is priced at 63 yuan, the puzzle masterpiece "Forgotten Border" is 30 yuan, the domestic FPS masterpiece "Mercury" 36 yuan, the domestic FPS masterpiece "Yizhuang Party" "30 yuan, my favorite "Dream Flight" 10 yuan. From these prices, we can see that the price of a mobile VR game is about the same as the price of a movie ticket, and the best game is equivalent to the most expensive blockbuster. The average game is equivalent to an ordinary movie. This is what I said earlier, why the duration of VR games is about 2 hours, because consumers will compare this way: buy a game and watch a movie, which is more valuable. If the game's volume is up to standard and the quality is good, the player will accept it and then forward it, and vice versa.
Based on the above comparison, I came to the conclusion at the beginning of this article. Finally, I would like to say more, if you are a developer, do you remember the shock of the first contact with VR in 2015 and 2016? Maybe you just got the idea of making VR games because of this shock. Then maybe you gave up VR because of the lack of equipment base, and now we finally ushered in a more convenient and more suitable device for C-end users. At this point in time, I suggest that you at least try to experience the popular one on the market again. The product, perhaps the original shock and passion will reappear. Compared with the mobile game market that is already competing in the Red Sea, isn't it an excellent opportunity for the PC/host VR market, which is also competitive and has insufficient equipment base, to be more suitable for the C-end user's all-in-one platform?
