10 VR Game Trends for 2024

This article will go over some of the trends that are emerging in the industry.  Some of these are here to stay as they depend on emerging tech, while others are trends that often come and go in the gaming industry.

Mass Adoption

Just a few years ago, VR technology wasn’t nearly as good as it is today, but it is much more expensive.  There were almost no products made for the general public that were worth the money.  Some companies used VR headsets as a way to train their employees, but beyond that, gamers were stuck.

Now, we’re heading towards mass adoption as the devices are much less expensive and often sold with the consoles themselves.  This has put the industry into hyper-drive, and many more games are coming out of greater quality.

Much Better Experience

The gaming experience is much better now than it was just a few years ago.  The innovation has led to more immersive gaming with much smaller and more manageable devices.  Eye tracking is one of the features that improved most of all, as the device now knows what the player is looking at.

Force feedback gloves are also widely available now, and they allow the user to interact with the object in real life.  That way, the players can feel as if they are actually touching an object they are using in the game.

Metaverse

Metaverse – a connected world of digital settings that players can interact with and move through was always the next step for the world of virtual reality games.  It allowed for the full immersion and creation of a digital life within the game or many different games.  The experiment Meta started didn’t go as planned, but it was a step in the right direction when it comes to the future of VR experiences.

The idea of being stuck in a virtual world for both your job and your personal experience was presented as dystopian at first, and the initial version may have been a little bit.  Still, there’s a lot of potential for the concept as it improves.

Focus on Mobile Streaming

New VR devices are easy to connect with mobile devices and stream the content for both the players and those watching.  This is an important feature as young players are moving on to mobile and simple games from complex AAA titles.

For instance, secure crypto casino apps are widely used to stream casino tournaments or dice games.  These are simple enough to learn and play but difficult to master, and the difference between a novice and a skilled player is obvious to anyone watching.

Mixed Reality Gaming

Mixed reality games combine the features of VR and AR.  This means that the games are played using VR sets but in a real environment, such as game rooms.  It’s best suited to collaborative games played with friends and among teams.

For example, in games like Demoe, players can place an in-game board on an actual table.  Another example is the VR game Spatial Ops, which lets people play with friends in the same physical location.  Venues made for such games are opening everywhere, and there’s potential in them, especially in this transitional period when not everyone has a VR device of their own.

The Introduction of Standalone Headset

A standalone headset is a VR device that consists of a single headset.  All of the sensors and other gadgets needed to provide a virtual reality experience are built into it.  That’s how we all imagined the device when VR was just an idea.  Plug and Play devices are more manageable, easier to carry and transport, and can be used by novice users.

Apple came out with such a device, and so did Sonny.  They are still in the beta stage, and there are improvements to be made, but chances are all the future VR devices will be standalone, as it’s a new standard.

Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming is already widely available when it comes to other gaming platforms, such as consoles and PCs.  It’s now coming to VR gaming, making it more accessible.  Cloud gaming requires a powerful processor, and that’s what kept it away from VR headsets until they got powerful enough.

There are already three cloud gaming services for VR available right now – Nvidia’s Cloud XR, PlutoSphere, and Shadow.  They don’t support all VR headsets, but they do support a few of the most powerful ones.

Better Games

Better games are coming to VR devices, and this trend will expand greatly in the next couple of years.  Some of the biggest IPs out there will get a VR version now that the tech is available, and the consoles can upsell their existing players and bring in new ones.

Some of the games coming to VR include Just Dance, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and GTA San Andrea.  Resident Evil 4 also has a VR version, and it was very popular due to how it expanded on the original version.  There are also high-end original titles that are only available in VR.

Games that Take Advantage of the VR Experience

Now, when the VR experience is so much better and more immersive, game designers will start to take advantage of that and produce games that focus on these features.  This will affect which genres will be most played in the next couple of years.

The three most popular genres among both VR-only games (can only be played through VR) and VR-integrated games (games that can be played on other devices as well) will be adventure, shooter, and simulation.  This isn’t to say that there won’t be other genres worth your time.

VR Will be everywhere.

The gaming industry will quickly adapt to the changes in VR tech and start creating games made for VR only, but the true sign of change and innovation will be how fast VR will become popular in fields outside of gaming.  VR makes remote work much easier and cuts costs for many different industries.

The most common uses will include employee training, virtual shopping, travel, and design.  However, any industry that relies on communication can become a VR industry once VR replaces traditional ways of communication, and there will be plenty of ways to show off creative VR uses.

Conclusion

VR has become more widely accessible since the technology has improved and become less expensive.  This has affected the gaming industry, and it will affect many other industries as well.  There’s a growing focus on standalone headsets and pairing them with mobile devices since the tech is now here and allows for a wider adoption.

The games will also change to fit in with the new technology.  Genres that use the immersive experience will become more popular.  This means first-person shooters and simulation games will soon flood the market.  Many console and PC IPs will also be getting a VR version.