Chapter 132 VR Games?

Thinking about it that way, President Pei's words made a lot of sense.

None of the previous successful projects had succeeded by playing it safe.

In fact, whether it was Tenda Games or Shang Yang Games, every game they made took a risky and unconventional approach, but each one was a great success.

On the other hand, those game companies that played it safe, making minor modifications to old games or swapping out the art assets and selling them as new, seeking only stability and profit, often received a lukewarm response and poor sales.

Because playing it safe is a form of stagnation.

When other game developers are seeking innovation and change, playing it safe is equivalent to falling behind, and past successes will quickly become obsolete.

Lin Chang was also filled with respect. Although he didn't know much about the game industry, President Pei's words seemed to contain profound philosophical principles.

"So, what do you mean, President Pei?" Lin Chang asked.

Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, "In my opinion, the newer the company, the more it should be ambitious and boldly innovative."

"If a new company starts out thinking about sticking to the old ways and copying previous successes, it will never have the courage to innovate in the future, and will only stray further and further down the path of 'getting by'."

"So, whether it's at Shang Yang Games or Chi Xing Studio, design things as you normally would, and forget that you're at a new company."

"Just like before, decide on the game genre first, and take it one step at a time."

Lin Wan nodded. "Well, in that case, there are only a few directions to choose from. Since we're not doing mobile games, that only leaves PC single-player games and online games."

"If we follow President Pei's idea of challenging ourselves, then we should definitely try to make a single-player game on the level of *Rebirth from Ash*, *Struggle*, and *Mission and Choice*."

Pei Qian pondered for a moment, "Are those really the only paths we can take? Think about it again?"

Lin Wan shouldn't have brought those examples up; they only stirred up Pei Qian's painful memories.

Each of those three single-player games had a larger investment than the last, but they also made more money than the last.

Although it wasn't enough to prove that it was a path to failure, Pei Qian didn't want to walk it again any time soon.

So, he had to find another path.

Lin Wan looked very confused. "Huh? But those are all the game genres there are. On the PC side, it's just single-player and online games, and mobile games..."

Pei Qian prompted, "Haven't you heard about... VR games recently?"

Lin Chang and Lin Wan were both stunned, and they looked at each other. "VR games?"

Lin Wan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I've heard of them, but... aren't those games still just a concept right now? Aside from a few foreign companies that have done some exploratory, conceptual VR games, no one is really making them right now..."

Lin Chang looked blank and silently took out his phone to search for the keyword "VR games."

Last night, Pei Qian had already searched online for some relevant information to understand the development of VR technology in this world.

In summary, VR technology in this world was one or two years ahead of what he remembered. Compared to the development of mobile technology in this world, VR technology was actually relatively slow.

A crucial milestone in VR technology was the creation of the first modern VR headset. In Pei Qian's memory, it should have been the Oculus Rift, which was released in 2012 after being crowdfunded for $2.5 million. From that year on, public interest in VR gradually ignited.

According to Pei Qian's memory, the VR craze didn't really take off until 2016, when major manufacturers' VR devices, such as the HTC Vive and PSVR, were launched.

That was also why 2016 was called the "year zero" of VR games by many people.

However, the VR industry quickly encountered bottlenecks, and the hype gradually faded due to technical reasons, but that's another story.

The current situation in this world is roughly equivalent to the situation in Pei Qian's memory around 2013 to 2014.

Last year, a foreign company had already developed a usable VR headset through crowdfunding, but this product hadn't received much attention, even abroad, let alone in China.

On the one hand, the technology still had some flaws at this time. The resolution was relatively low, with a resolution of only 640*800 per eye, and only 1280*800 when combined, resulting in a very obvious screen-door effect. In layman's terms, it was a screen full of mosaics, with large pixels, and motion tracking was also very imperfect.

On the other hand, the content that VR technology could support was too limited. Whether it was games or movies, not many manufacturers were developing or filming them.

With equipment but no content, the vast majority of consumers naturally had no motivation to spend $300 to buy such a toy.

In China, the VR field was still a blank slate. No companies were producing VR headsets, and no companies were developing VR games, not even cheap VR alternatives like "cardboard boxes + phones."

Pei Qian thought about it this way: judging by the development speed of the entire VR industry, it would take at least three years to reach the level of hype of "year zero."

During these three years, the entire market would be relatively sluggish, and the hype wouldn't be very high.

Moreover, the prerequisite for playing VR games was buying a VR headset, which would cost at least two or three thousand; and to smoothly experience large-scale VR games, you would also need a high-end computer, which would probably cost at least six or seven thousand more.

Most players couldn't accept that kind of investment.

Therefore, Pei Qian felt that getting involved in VR games at this critical juncture should be foolproof!

On the contrary, if he waited two or three more years, the situation might not be so certain.

He had to take advantage of this crucial moment and quickly lose the money.

Lin Chang checked his phone for a while and finally roughly understood the current state of VR games.

"President Pei, if we want to develop VR games, do we have to cooperate with these foreign VR headset manufacturers?"

Pei Qian smiled. "Cooperate with them? Why would we need to? Isn't it enough to develop it ourselves? Shenhua Group can make phones, can't they make VR headsets?"

Lin Chang was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it, it seemed to be the case.

VR headsets weren't actually that complex in terms of technology, and the difficulty of manufacturing them wasn't higher than that of phones. Shenhua Group not only made phones but also made smart hardware, so developing a VR headset wasn't too difficult.

But he quickly realized that the problem wasn't technology or money at all!

Lin Chang said, "President Pei, isn't this too risky? No traditional game developers are making VR games right now. If we want to do it, we won't have any successful experience to refer to, right?"

Pei Qian asked, "Since we're innovating, what successful experience do we need to refer to?"

Lin Chang's mouth opened slightly, and he was momentarily speechless.

Lin Wan said, "Don't interrupt. Let President Pei finish explaining the whole project idea before you express your opinions."

Lin Chang: "..."

Lin Wan was obviously seriously considering the feasibility of the VR game project. After thinking about it for a while, she said, "Then, President Pei, what kind of VR game should we make? A first-person shooter? An interactive movie game? Or maybe a simple strategy game would also work."

"Considering the characteristics of VR devices, making a first-person shooter is definitely the best choice, right?"

Compared to PCs, VR had many disadvantages due to the immaturity of the technology, such as resolution, operation, and motion sickness.

The only advantage was immersion.

Therefore, game genres such as shooters and interactive movie games would provide a much better experience than PC games when played in first-person. As for strategy games, they were more forced, and they could only make games with simple operations and not too complex content. Although they were all top-down, the top-down view in VR mode would look more shocking than on a PC, so it could barely work.

Pei Qian fell into a brief silence.

If they made a first-person shooter or an interactive movie game, they might actually be able to make a name for themselves.

Because first-person shooters could use a controller to aim, coupled with the extremely strong sense of immersion, plus a little bit of a horror atmosphere, they might be able to create a masterpiece that players would rave about.