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Game Studio CCP Scales Back Virtual Reality Development (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the dispatch dept.

Developer CCP Games has significantly cut the time and money it is investing in virtual-reality based games. From a report: The Iceland-based studio is best known for sci-fi title Eve Online but has also created several VR-centred games. Spaceship dog-fighting simulator Eve Valkyrie helped launch the Oculus Rift headset and CCP also made the Sparc VR ball-tossing game for the PlayStation. CCP boss Hilmar Petursson said the company would re-invest in VR when market conditions improved. The move was a "blow to the viability of VR as a major gaming platform," said Adam Smith on the Rock, Paper Shotgun gaming news website, adding that Valkyrie was one of the few games that tempted him to try VR. The changes come just over a month after CCP overhauled Valkyrie in a bid to get more people playing it. CCP has cut its investment in VR as part of a broader restructuring effort. The structural changes mean more focus on PC and mobile games, it said in a statement. It is closing its Atlanta, US, office and selling off the development studio it maintains in Newcastle. The VR development work done at both locations will move to London.

9 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Eve Valkyrie was a shitty game by SensitiveMale · · Score: 2

    that REQUIRED the use of the Xbox controller. IIRC, the controller was needed to push a single button in the beginning of the game and then the players could use the touch controllers. I had to connect the controller to push that button to get past the introduction scene. Even then, the game was unplayable with the touch controller.

    So CCP, make a decent game that actually uses the touch controllers and you'll make money.

  2. VR and uncanny valley. by jellomizer · · Score: 2

    I think the big issue is that VR is a lot like the Uncanny Valley, any nearly imperfection, no matter how small will annoy the user. For VR, there really isn't much room for good enough, it really has to be perfect. Also the problem with games we have had for a long time, with full movement games, it requires a space where our hands are free and are safe to move around. Thus forcing you to clean your room before you play video games. Which may sound good to parents however it would mean not playing that game.

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    1. Re:VR and uncanny valley. by Junta · · Score: 2

      Ehh.. Not for me..

      Sure, resolution doesn't go as far as it does on a monitor, so in some respects resolution steps back a decade or so.

      Also, currently at least the rift lenses are pretty bad for rays of light that really detract.

      However, the amazing sensation of being utterly surrounded by the environment, rather than looking at a relatively tiny window into the environment, it's incredible. It doesn't in any way feel somehow more eerie than the stuff on a monitor, the way a almost-real-but-not-quite 3d render is.

      I also would say the full motion that VR fanatics *demand* is doing more harm than good to the health of the genre. Sure, a game like robo recall is a fantastic experience, but saying that you have to have 1:1 motion mapping from real world to virtual or else don't bother at all.

      The big challenge for VR is that games on average or pretty 'meh', VR or not. VR has started to accumulate expereinces which is nice, but like the general industry, a good game is a rarity. Elite Dangerous is a fantastic VR space sim, but not so much a good *game* as of yet. Lucky's Tale is cute, but it's a generic platformer when all is said and done. Even one of the 'deeper' experiences like Edge of Nowhere is decently executed, but exceedingly short in terms of how that genre *usually* goes,

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    2. Re:VR and uncanny valley. by SensitiveMale · · Score: 2

      I disagree 100% VR is the future. There is no doubt. There are tons of imperfections in the game but as long as the game is fun, those don't matter. Robo Recall is a perfect example. It's not perfect, but it doesn't require the space of a room. Hell, I've been playing it sitting down lately. Still fun.

      Games are just starting to scratch the surface of what they can do. First it was just the 3D effect. Then they started to actually change the weapons. Upgraded to a laser/flashlight? Well attach that item and show it in the game? Make the player turn it on with a button on the actual unit. Now games are getting into "real" video game territory. Put a button on the players wrist that pops up a map. Show the weapons on the player's body. Use a aerosol can to spray paint new colors.

      Movement is gimped in these games. That's just how it is and how it will be for the foreseeable future. Can't get around that. Teleporting or moving forward with the joystick is a crutch. Although I have played a game where "chugging the arms" like you were running did the moving. That was interesting. But it's a small thing for now.

      A game only needs to be fun, standing or sitting, for it to be a success.

  3. I can see it by BlueCoder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    VR should be fringe right now no matter how much big business wants it to be a big thing so quickly. It needs to slow cook (rather than pressure cook) with developer time. VR games are different than what has come before. There is a difference between the way people want it to work and how it has to work. The killer app will eventually come which will be 4k/8k goggles. Problem is producing it when the majority of cell phones (where the scale of economy exists) will not see 8k screen phones. When we get 8k for VR that will open up business apps otherwise it's like 3D on a Nintendo64.

    1. Re:I can see it by Junta · · Score: 2

      My concern is that it becomes chicken and egg. The technology could crtainly be a tad better, but it's pretty damn effective. The problem right now is that there is a crucial lack of *quality* games. There have been a fair number of games, and some of them have been pretty techonologically and artisitically impressive, but generally they are no more than 'arcarde' deep, with emphasis on short playtimes and/or wonder of an environment but lack of story or gameplay to actually drive things beyond looking nice.

      If game studios 'wait and see' so will the market, and it becomes a stale mate.

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    2. Re:I can see it by vix86 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Pimax: World's First 8k VR

      It's been reviewed by a number of outlets already, so its not vaporware, though it has a few issues.

  4. Re:Bad move. by Rhacman · · Score: 2

    Novelty is definitely the word I'd use for VR. I was blown away by what platforms like Oculus and Vive are capable of but I always felt like my eyes were fighting with it despite assurances that I just needed to adjust things "right". Text and indicators were always somewhat challenging for me to read and an hour of gameplay was an accomplishment before I'd need a break due to eye strain. Having that much gear strapped to my head wasn't really a high point either. It was comfortable for what it was though I always felt a sense of relief removing the goggles plus headphones.

    I hope to see the technology advance, but I'm not quite ready to pay several hundred dollars for it in it's current state.

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  5. In short... by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    ....let's be clear: CCP does EVE.

    Everything else it tries to do, it fucks up supremely.

    (shrug)

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    -Styopa