There’s a big game launch on the horizon next spring, with the Cyberpunk 2077 release date set for mid-April. Valve’s next instalment in the Half-Life series will arrive around the same time, with the Half-Life: Alyx release date set for March 2020. It sounds like the Cyberpunk devs aren’t worried, though – because VR is “a very different niche.”
In its most recent earnings call, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red talked about the upcoming Half-Life: Alyx. “So, of course, we’ve seen the Half-Life PR announcement. I think it was a surprise for everybody, but I think not in a way you are suggesting. VR remains an extremely nichey niche of the market, like it’s very, very small.”
Indicating that a reason for Valve’s decision to make the game is linked to having their own VR hardware (like the Valve Index), which they might be looking to expand, Senior VP of Business Development Michal Andrzej Nowakowski says: “This is an endeavour to sort of try to push the hardware while we are really targeting the mass markets where it is, which is major consoles and the PCs without the need to have the VR gear.”
The company also says, “This is probably a big effort for them to sort of try to expand” their VR hardware. “That niche is very, very, very – and I could add a few verys here – small.”
It adds, “So, from the market perspective, are we afraid? No, because it’s a very different niche.”
The company also says in the call that, where Valve might be looking to target growth of VR with Half-Life: Alyx, CDPR – which also develops The Witcher series – is instead looking to reach the bigger player markets that already exists:
The studio adds that, while virtual reality could go onto become a “mass-market-entertainment” in the future, it’s “not the case, at least not for us right now.”