The virtual reality landscape is not too kind on startups right now. With consumer interest much lower than anticipated, a lot of companies are forced to make tough decisions early on. Any product or service thriving due to consumer demand will be phased out rather quickly at this pace. It is not easy to survive as a VR startup, but it is too early to go go into full desperation mode. Some companies are taking some severe precautions.
The Harsh World of Virtual Reality Startups
A lot of experts will claim the VR market is still in its infantile stage. That is certainly true, as consumer-grade technology has only started to gain traction recently,Then again, VR startups do not have the luxury to muck about for a few years either For these companies, surviving is the first priority. Right now, that is a very steep challenge, unless some tough decisions are made at an early stage.
With VR content still suffering from slow growth, consumers will not flock to VR anytime soon. Cross-platform support is another major letdown where VR games and apps are concerned. One would expect cross-platform compatibility for software to be a norm in 2017. Unfortunately, there are still companies walling off their platform rather than letting the whole ecosystem grow.
As a VR startup, now is the time to prepare contingency plans. For some companies, such plans will never be put into action. That is a good thing mind you. However, a lot of companies are pausing their scaling and they focus on finishing their prototypes. Delivering a working project while remaining in stealth mode will eventually yield better results compared to making a big buzz and failing to deliver. The virtual reality sector will mature given some time.
Even startups successfully graduating from accelerators are faced with difficult decisions. Creating content for consumers to enjoy is one thing. Ensuring players come back on a regular basis is far more difficult Funding can’t buy creativity to persuade thousands of consumers. Now is the time to make strategic decisions for the future. Reducing overhead and working on proper content should be a top priority for VR startups right now. Unfortunately, not all startups will survive the coming years.
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