How Far Are We From Seeing A Truly Competitive VR Esports Scene

We know that Esports is one of the hottest growing trends among teens and young adults. We are quickly seeing the rise of gamers turning into celebrities and superstars overnight. Just look at Ninja from Fortnite. He has had one of the most incredible years thus far when it comes to gaming and success. He’s gotten the attention from the mainstream spotlight and even played Fortnite matches with Drake himself.

And while conventional console and PC games are doing great, how far are we from seeing the same results with VR? Well, I guess that all depends. Currently, we have VR games such as Echo Arena which is certainly keeping the interest of competitive Esports players but it is nowhere near the current battle royale games. So we wanted to break down the recipes required for us to see the rise of VR Esports.

The right VR game

I personally believe that VR games are getting better and better as time goes on. We just recently saw the release of awesome AAA VR titles such as Fallout 4 VR, Skyrim VR, LA Noire: The VR Case Files, and more. But they are all mostly single player games with a linear storyline.

We’ll need to see the birth of a true AAA VR title that’s able to grasp the attention of the audience. It would have to borrow some traits of VRChat with the virality of a battle royale game. The userbase is important to any game and they need to be able to hold our attention for long periods of time. People love being competitive against one another so having those 2 game ideas meshed in the VR space wouldn’t be so bad.

VR also allows us to do so much more than conventional gaming as we are able to use our hands and body in the virtual space. So gaming studios need to take advantage of that opportunity and come up with a game that really incorporates our physical movement.

Somewhere out there is an idea like Rocket League where the game is produced by a creative indie studio and backed by a super supportive community. Rocket League provides hours of fun while being competitive in nature.

VR Mechanics

Sometimes, we also notice how cheesy movements can be in VR, especially when it comes to FPS games. While we are supposed to be immersed in the virtual space we immediately notice the “fakeness” around the world with the lack of response and details. That’s why we need to take advantage. A great reference is Stress Level Zero and their new VR game mechanics.

This mechanic just makes things so much more believable and immerses us in the virtual world. We need to see great studios take time with their games and finite the small details that matter.

Cost

One of the most critical things to consider is cost. We know that owning a PC rig with the right VR headset can become costly which is why many people today don’t own a set. And this isn’t just one company’s problem. This issue needs to be addressed by the whole industry and we will certainly see some great solutions in the near future.

Once we get to this level of precision in VR, I believe we can start entertaining the idea of developing a competitive VR esports scene.