Whispered VR Games Secrets
Throughout the last couple of years, we have seen an array of news posts about how virtual reality was about to save the classic arcade. The idea goes that the VR indoor jungle gym equipment is too expensive for home users, therefore it creates an chance for operators to pony up the big bucks to purchase it and make their money back by charging a match to play it.
"While several high-end headsets were released last year which can bring virtual-reality adventures to your living room, adoption of this technology remains in its earliest days to get a bunch of reasons--it is still bulky, pricey, and there isn't all that far to do as soon as you've got it on your face. More than two million cans were sent worldwide in 2016, according to an estimate from market researcher Canalys, but this figure pales in comparison to the prevalence of, say, video game consoles (sales of their leading one, Sony's PS4, topped six million throughout the 2016 holiday season alone). Consumer virtual reality will probably catch on as costs come down and cans improve. Meanwhile, though, a number of companies are betting that customers could possibly be pleased to pay a much smaller sum to try the technology with their friends at, say, an arcade, theme park, or even bowling alley"
It's tempting to fall into this snare, but in the operator's standpoint VR is a terrible thing. Operators are being asked to pay top dollar for technology that's all but guaranteed to plummet in value over the very short term. Other than purchasing a brand new vehicle and driving it a time, I can not think about a way you could lose money faster between what you pay and what you will have the ability to get for it down the road.
Another limit for operators is that while you might have the ability to provide a room for VR people to roam around in now, as new VR tech is introduced, we are going to find the point expanded from 100 square feet to the entire world. Instead of viewing just the games in your headset, you'll realize the true world with sport play overlayed. As the tech allows more actual world areas to be explored, it is going to earn a cramped arcade look fairly lame in comparison.
VR is already heading for mass market acceptance, but it's demand isn't being pushed by gamers who want to pay big buck to play video games, but such as the BETAMAX that came before it, by people who wish to watch porn in their homes.
Even when an operator can make just a bit of money for the upcoming few years, once VR achieves critical mass, it is going to crush whatever revenue flow that operators are dreaming of. Do not believe me? Just check out what is happening in China.
This past year, an eye popping 35,000 virtual reality arcades opened up in China. A year later 22,000 of them have closed.
That is an unbelievable failure rate over such a brief period of time and one that should function as a sharp warning to anyone contemplating investing in the VR games. Maybe Dave and Busters can afford to take losses on the games more than Chinese startup arcades, however I doubt most North American operators will fare much better using the technology in their game rooms and will only wind up in debt in the close of the day.
The issue essentially boils down to consumers not being willing to pay a premium to the experience. Tech In Asia, describes the issue perfectly in their own article, on that the Chinese VR boom and bust. 
Even if the game was sold out all day, at $1.50 per half hour they are just earning $30 a day.
The actual world information streaming in from China should function as a canary in the quarter mines of North America. Operators who spend considerable amounts of money on fancy VR setups will soon find their small VR rooms being replaced by the whole world for a stage. Since the setups get cheaper, smaller and more portable, the virtual arcades will seem more expensive, bulky and limited. I would love to be proven wrong on this one, but I feel the arcade VR fad is more hype than hope.
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