Boneworks Developer Discusses Why Studios Aren’t Solely Focusing on PC VR

If you’re plugged into the VR scene on social media, you’ve probably come across a common refrain from PC VR enthusiasts: “What VR really needs is more high-end PC VR content.” But there’s a nuanced reason why studios aren’t churning out games that demand top-tier PC specs, and the developer behind Boneworks and Bonelab recently shed some light on this topic in a post on X.

Brandon J Laatsch, a notable name in VR development, engaged with this topic, highlighting a critical consideration: the minimum specifications for PC VR. He pointed out that the Quest 3 aligns with the CPU, RAM, GPU, and even surpasses the drive speeds of the 2016 VR minimum specs. So, it’s logical to wonder what should be the target by 2025 when discussing PC VR’s future.

Laatsch further delves into the financial realities of VR development. For a game aiming to cater primarily to devices like Quest 3 and Quest 3S, a reasonable budget cap appears to be around $10 million. To break even, such a game would need to sell about 416,000 copies at $40 each. This is a tall order, considering only a handful of VR games reach such sales figures.

Despite the evolving landscape with open stores and pushes like Horizon Worlds, developers often earn most of their revenue from the Quest platform. Ignoring Quest would necessitate a proportional reduction in a game’s budget, inevitably leading to a downsized game in terms of its ambition and quality. Laatsch aptly describes this scenario as “a challenging puzzle to maximize.”

Let’s not forget the current VR adoption metrics on Steam. Only about 2% of users are active VR headset users monthly, rising slightly to 3% when factoring in Chinese users. These numbers have stubbornly stagnated over the years. For VR games with high production values to target PC VR without backing from a major platform like Valve, this adoption rate would need a serious boost. People once pinned their hopes on a new Valve headset to trigger this growth, but talk of a hefty $1,200 price tag has certainly left many feeling sticker-shocked.