Years ago, we started hearing about the Oculus Rift, and with it the potential for virtual reality entertainment. In late-2015 and early-2016, we began to see the devices that would bring about this mode of entertainment becoming available to consumers. And by the spring of 2016, once these devices had all been unveiled, publications were still calling virtual reality the future of interactive entertainment – just as they had a few years prior, when it was merely a concept.
This may indeed be the case. VR games are getting better, and the market is expanding to include more genres, more titles, and even more ways of making up for some of the limitations of VR (most notably the disconnect between physical and in-game mobility). In some cases, however, development in VR gaming seems to be running a little bit behind schedule. For instance, while there are several fun shooters, we haven’t really seen a prevailing style of shooter take the lead, and it remains an awkward type of game for the medium. Open world gaming is also still in an experimental phase, despite being arguably the most popular form of console activity. Perhaps lagging furthest behind, however, is the casino genre, which remains more or less a non-factor.
Back in late-2015, VentureBeat called virtual reality the home for the online casinos of the future, and it wasn’t difficult to understand why. As mentioned, we were already starting to see headsets debuted around that time, and even some of the simpler early demos made casino gaming seem like a natural fit. When you boil them down, these games are quite simple, and don’t require much in the way of detailed environments, complex graphics, or motion. Fairly early on, in fact, we heard about (and then saw the release of) a game that actually did provide VR poker play. It was a little bit crude, but nevertheless showcased some potential.
More advanced casino VR games wouldn’t need to be limited to just poker, either. As existing online casino games go, slot machines have actually long been the most popular games in major markets, and they too have been growing more interactive. Many of the top slot games are now known for engaging animation and mini-games that go beyond the reels. Such things could be rendered beautifully in VR. Or, we could simply see VR environments in which both card tables and slot machines are set up as they would be in an ordinary casino.
All of this would certainly seem to line up nicely and forecast an active and successful market for this particular type of game in virtual reality. And yet, nearly two years into the so-called era of VR that more or less began at the outset of 2016, the aforementioned poker game is the only real example from the genre. It could be that issues revolving real money gaming and its legality are slowing expansion; it could also be that developers are simply more interested in more daring concepts at this early stage. But this is one area in which VR’s growth is proving to be disappointingly slower than expected.
