It is always interesting when the entities responsible for content feel virtual technology won’t matter anytime soon. According to Electronic Arts, it will take years before consumers will enjoy a proper VR experience. Augmented reality, on the other hand, is of greatest interest to the company. They feel there is a bigger market in this regard, which will also lead to more EA content for AR in the future.
Virtual reality content is already pretty difficult to come by. More specifically, the vast majority of offerings are pretty disappointing. Some games are exceptions in this regard, but on the app front, there is nothing to be overly excited about. In fact, one could argue the proper VR content outside of the games is still far away. Electronic Arts feels the same, as this process may take several more years in their esteemed opinion.
Electronic Arts Prefers Augmented Reality over VR
Instead, the company will focus more attention on augmented reality. It is evident VR and AR will be competing with one another when it comes to market share. EA has no real news to report regarding the VR market for the time being, but they are not the only ones. In fact, there are no major upcoming announcements to speak of. This applies to both content and hardware, as the industry is in a bit of a slump right now. Rectifying that situation is not easy by any means.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson finds augmented reality will be a better area for his company. In fact, he is confident short-term plans should be quite fruitful, all things considered. It is unclear what type of content the company will build for augmented reality, though. The first results and projects should become visible in the next six to twelve months. Quite an ambitious goal, to say the least, but time will tell how things play out. It is good to know the company is still paying attention to new and immersive technologies in general.
At the same time, one has to acknowledge these are still the early days for virtual reality. The hardware requirements are very steep and incredibly expensive. Additionally, some issues such as simulator sickness are still present far too often. Users also have to get used to the concept of exploring virtual reality, as our bodies and minds take some time to adjust. Augmented reality, on the other hand, will struggle with object tracking in the real world. Not an easy decision to make when it comes to choosing one over the other.
