MyOpinion

The history of virtual reality goes back a long way, and I wouldn't be writing this today if there hadn't been a technological revolution in VR about 15 years ago that made headsets compelling and affordable for a much larger number of people than in the decades before.

At the time, Palmer Luckey was working on his first VR headset prototypes, which offered an exceptionally wide field of view and high image quality at a relatively low price. This has been made possible by the widespread availability of low-cost smartphone displays that combine small size with high pixel density.

There were many other factors and inventions that helped virtual reality become a consumer product, but it was this technological revolution that got the ball rolling. A second major step was arguably standalone virtual reality, which was also made possible by existing smartphone technology. Without efficient mobile chipsets, devices like Meta Quest and the millions of VR headsets in use would be unthinkable.

Reflecting on these past leaps raises an interesting question about the future: Is virtual reality on the verge of another technological revolution of this magnitude, and what might it look like?

Will it be standard eye tracking and OLED microdisplays, integrated body tracking, or virtual reality streamed from the cloud? Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth pondered last year what a Meta Quest might look like in 2031. It could have near retinal resolution and be much lighter. Mirror Lake, Meta's futuristic research concept that combines a holographic and varifocal display in a compact, lightweight, and energy-efficient headset, also offers intriguing hints at possible future VR developments (the article image shows a rendering of what Mirror Lake might look like).

VR technology has so much room for improvement in terms of features and quality that it is fair to say that we are still witnessing its early days.

But back to your question: I think the third major revolution will be another display revolution, just like the first. Not because it will significantly improve image quality, but because it will allow headsets to be much thinner and lighter. The third revolution will be a form factor revolution and potentially the next big leap in the adoption of VR by the masses.

With the Holocake 2 prototype, Meta has shown where the journey could go, but it is unclear when this technology could find its way into products. My guess is that it will not happen in the next five years. Therefore, I don't see an immediate technological revolution coming, but rather evolutionary steps.

The latest version of Nvidia's DLSS technology, DLSS 4, brings massive improvements for VR gaming, according to numerous user reports. "It's a real game changer. About 95% of all artifacts are gone, you can see sponsor logos and lettering clearly and see the road very far," reports a user named VicMan73 on Reddit about the game EA Sports WRC.

In older versions, he has not been able to use DLSS4 at all. Big leap "I was able to switch from ASW without DLSS at 40 fps to a full 80 fps at the same resolution — and with DLSS in quality mode. While DLSS was previously practically unplayable in VR, version 4 now delivers razor-sharp and clear images."

The groundbreaking 2007 release of Crysis has long held its legendary status in the gaming world. "But can it run Crysis?" became a serious and unserious question across multiple generations of PC hardware, but for some it truly was the benchmark for the hardware of its day. Now, it runs in VR.

Following its work on hit co-op RPG Demeo and its more recent PvP focused spinoff, Demeo Battles, Resolution has officially unveiled its upcoming Dungeons & Dragons crossover with Wizards of the Coast.

Detailed in a press release, this collaboration promises to “summon both battle-hardened veterans and eager newcomers to embark on adventures steeped in the world and lore of D&D.” It uses Demeo's gameplay systems as the base and you can play with friends via cross-platform co-op multiplayer. However, Battlemarked doesn't use a Dungeon Master (DM) to run campaigns like D&D requires. In a prepared statement, Tommy Palm, founder and CEO of Resolution Games, elaborated further. He advised that Battlemarked is “adapting the classes, actions, and lore of Dungeons & Dragons to this system for all new adventures and a whole new experience built from the ground up with D&D in mind.” At launch, Demeo X Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked will include two narrative-driven campaigns and further DLC campaigns are planned with different D&D settings. It's currently unknown if these additional campaigns will be paid DLC additions or free updates, and we previously saw the latter with Demeo post-launch.

Demeo X Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked is coming to “to multiple platforms” across “PC, console and XR devices.” Specific headsets and a release window remain unconfirmed, and the official website is now live.

Gaijin Entertainment, the studio behind War Thunder (2013), announced that its upcoming aerial VR combat game Aces of Thunder is headed to PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets sometime this year.

Announced in 2023, Aces of Thunder was originally supposed to launch in Q4 2024, tapped to bring a host of the world’s most recognizable World War planes to SteamVR and PSVR 2.

So far, Gaijin has shown off not only a wide range of WWII-era planes, but now also a slate of WWI-era planes too.

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who has a history of getting his predictions right, caused a stir last week with a report claiming to reveal Meta's smartglasses and AR roadmap through 2027. He did not say anything about VR products.

In his latest Power On newsletter on Sunday, he mentions them in passing, writing

"Meta is working on Quest 4 VR goggles, as well as a new high-end model that could eventually become a successor to the Quest Pro mixed-reality headset, I’m told."

It is clear that Samsung and Google will put pressure on Meta this year with the premium headset Project Moohan and Meta could consider a response. Meta is working with ASUS on a headset that reportedly offers eye and face tracking. Gurman's source may have been referring to this product, the release year of which is not yet known.

We will have to wait and see what direction Meta's plans take. As always, keep in mind that Meta has multiple hardware prototypes in development at any given time, and only a few of these will actually become products. A lot can happen between now and 2027 and beyond.

Google made the announcement on its blog. There, the company writes:

"We’ve been investing in XR for more than a decade, and just last month introduced the Android XR platform with our strategic industry partners. Today we signed an agreement to welcome some of the HTC VIVE engineering team to Google, which is subject to customary closing conditions. They are an incredibly strong technical team with a proven track record in the VR space, and we are looking forward to working with them to accelerate the development of the Android XR platform across the headsets and glasses ecosystem."

As announced in December, Kim said the company is co-developing Android XR ecosystem with Google to change the way we interact with the physical and virtual worlds. They will define the operating system, user interface and hardware.

But Kim didn’t go into the details on the devices or the ongoing partnership with Google.

“These upcoming XR devices with multimodal AI devices will change the way interface with the physical and virtual worlds,” Kim said.

He said Samsung would develop these products with developers and partners.

Google’s Gemini Live AI on Galaxy S25 devices — which have a powerful neural processing unit for on-device AI processing — is a signal of what is coming the future, Kim said. Devices will understand what you see and what you say, he said.

AI is going to give companies like Samsung a second shot to be a player in the XR business. So far, Meta dominates the field with tens of millions of devices sold. Rivals like HTC Vive and Pimax are carving out different parts of the market, but Samsung is likely to challenge both Meta and Apple for the mainstream part of the business, which isn’t as big as once hoped but is still a market in the tens of billions of dollars.

Meta has made XR its area of focus when it comes to devices because it acknowledges it lost a big war when it failed to come up with a smartphone to challenge Apple. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shifted much of the company’s emphasis to AI investments, but it turns out that better AI for on-the-go devices like smart glasses and XR headsets with mixed reality could be what the market really needs. Google, Samsung, Qualcomm and many others see the opportunity and are investing to make it real.

When a silver Rivian R3 prototype rolled on stage during the automaker’s R2 reveal event on March 7, the audience’s eyes sparkled and jaws dropped, followed by cheerful whistling and whooping. Few other EVs have triggered such enthusiastic reactions in recent memory.

For car nerds, the pint-sized, angular hatchback was an ode to legendary rally names like the Lancia Delta Integrale. For regular people, the message was clear: An affordable yet highly desirable Rivian is on its way.

The R2 will start at $45,000, so the R3 is estimated to fall in the $30,000-40,000 price range. At that price, the R3 would compete with the next-gen Chevrolet Bolt EV, the Kia EV3, and potentially an affordable Tesla, among others.

Google’s announcement of Android XR last month was largely met with excitement, but there was a notable undercurrent of concern about Google’s long-term commitment to the platform. The company has a storied history of launching new products and platforms, only to drop them a few years later—often leaving third-party developers in the lurch.

Google has earned a reputation among third-party developers as a company that will tout the launch of exciting new platforms, only to cancel them unless they achieve breakout success.

The site Killed by Google maintains an active list of the company’s cancelled projects, currently totaling 296. While Stadia—Google’s short-lived cloud game streaming service—is probably the most recognizable example in recent years, the XR industry already has first-hand experience with the practice.

Google Daydream, announced back in 2016, was Google’s first attempt at entering the XR space proper. The company created the Daydream View headset in which Android smartphones could be inserted for a VR experience similar to Samsung’s Gear VR headset at the time. Third-party developers could build made-for-Daydream apps and distribute them via the Play Store right alongside other Android applications.

Over the next two years Google made efforts to refine Daydream View, including adding more supported phones, releasing an improved version of the headset, and even making one of the first 6DOF standalone VR headsets in partnership with Lenovo.

But little more than three years later the company killed the platform after it failed to achieve the ambitious adoption it had hoped for.

Assetto Corsa EVO made its big Early Access launch on Steam yesterday, bringing the next iteration of the racing franchise to both flatscreen and PC VR headsets. It’s getting mixed reviews, although VR users in particular are warning that you should wait for incoming patches, which will hopefully address the game’s currently questionable optimization.

KUNOS Simulazioni, developer behind both Assetto Corsa (2014) and Assetto Corsa Competizione (2018), released their long-awaited follow-up, Assetto Corsa EVO. The Early Access version boasts five tracks, 20 vehicles, single player, support for SteamVR headsets, as well as triple screen support.

While the studio promises the full slate of content is set to arrive in successive updates, which will include a total of 100 cars, 25 tracks, open world map, career and multiplayer mode, for now it appears VR users aren’t exactly happy with the state of the game.

User reviews are pouring in, with the game now counting over 2,700 reviews, garnering it a ‘Mixed’ score. Although some complaints mention the lack of features, which KUNOS Simulazioni promises are still yet to come, many of those specifically mentioning VR support are fairly cut-and-dry. It’s simply not optimized well enough, which has left it largely unplayable in VR.

“I won’t comment on the performance issues, as this is early access, only remark is that VR is currently unplayable,” says Steam user Poloman. “I have 150 fps on 3440×1440, but can’t get more that 30 [FPS] in VR.”

“Unplayable in VR with a RTX 4090 and i9 13900k at lowest settings (only targeting 80hz too). It has constant latency spikes making the game unplayable at any setting,” reports Mattios. “Flatscreen works fine, maxed out it barely hits 80% GPU and 10% CPU usage without upscaling”

Virtual Hunter by Finnish development studio Korpi Games is available as a full release since January 15, 2025. According to the developers, the game is now feature complete.

According to the Steam description, the VR hunting simulation features a large, open hunting ground where animals such as the majestic red deer, the elusive brown hare, wild boar and fallow deer roam free in the wilderness. Players can pack their gear, master realistic weapon handling and ballistics on the shooting range, and then head out into the open wilderness. Up to six players can hunt, trek and strategize together to bag the biggest trophy.

Each hunt is a new adventure as animals appear in new locations each time. How you hunt is up to you: You can track animals, use blinds, or just follow your instincts. The weapon stabilization system allows for accurate shots from long distances.

Each species has its behavior, which makes hunting challenging and interesting. Animals use their senses to see, smell, and hear hunters. Capital trophy animals have sharper senses, which makes hunting more difficult, but also more rewarding. Virtual Hunter includes a unique trophy display system that allows you to freely place the prepared trophies in your hunting lodge.

You can purchase Virtual Hunter on Steam. To celebrate the launch, new players can pick the game up 20% off from the current price of $20, before the price will increase to $25 on January 22nd.