After the launch of PSVR 2, the VR industry sees an eerily quiet spring
Despite the launch of Playstation VR 2, not much is happening in the VR industry right now. By the end of the year, things could look very different.
The biggest event so far was the launch of the Playstation VR 2 in February.
Since then, Sony has been unable to maintain the momentum: Only a handful of new VR games have been released for the system in the past two months, with The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners 2 among the bigger titles. The good news is that there are more than 100 games in development for Sony's VR headset, including innovative action titles like Synapse.
And what about Meta? Things are quiet here as well. The last firmware update for Meta Quest 2 was rolling out almost two months ago, and this year's Meta Quest Gaming Showcase hasn't even been announced yet. The first two editions of this event took place around this time every April.
Meta has other problems right now
It's no surprise that Meta is going slower these days: the company is in the midst of its second major round of layoffs, most of which is expected to be completed by the end of May. Naturally, the motivation to do the work at hand will be low for those who fear for their jobs.
"I hope we can make these changes to our organization as soon as possible so we can move past this period of uncertainty and focus on the important work ahead," Mark Zuckerberg wrote a month ago when he announced that another 10,000 employees would lose their jobs.
Expect a hot holiday season for VR
Meta Quest 3 could be released in the fall. It's quite possible that we won't hear anything concrete about the device until it's unveiled at the next Meta Connect. Openly talking about it in advance would negatively affect Quest 2 sales. At the same time, Meta has closed one of the biggest loopholes for hardware leaks.
Both Sony and Meta are unlikely to fire up the PR machine until the fall. The holiday shopping season will be critical for both companies. I, for one, hope that the current news drought doesn't last until then.
It could be Apple that wakes the VR industry from its slumber. Apple leaker Mark Gurman is convinced that Apple's mixed reality headset will be unveiled at WWDC this summer. I remain skeptical and bet against it, but hope to be wrong.
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