Though virtual reality technology is steadily becoming a standard unto itself, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick still has his concerns. Known for having serious reservations about virtual reality, he spoke of the “impediments” that may hinder the technology becoming truly mainstream.
The CEO of Rockstar Games and 2K Games’ parent company recently spoke at the Cowen and Company Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, where he expressed his thoughts on how VR costs too much and how there’s no way most average American homes would dedicate entire rooms to VR gaming.
He had this to say about the problems in virtual reality being widely adopted:
“It’s way too expensive right now. There is no market for a $2000 entertainment device that requires you to dedicate a room to the activity. I don’t know what people could be thinking. Maybe some of the people in this room have a room to dedicate to an entertainment activity, but back here in the real world? That’s not what we have in America. We have like $300 to spend on an entertainment device and we do not have a dedicated room. We have a room for a screen, a couch, and controllers. We don’t have something where you stand in a big open space and hold two controllers with something on your head–and not crash into the coffee table. We don’t have that.”
He went on to say that these reservations don’t totally dampen his attitude on VR:
“I’m not unexcited. I’m just saying it remains to be seen. There are impediments.”
Zelnick had expressed similar views back in 2014 when he stated that VR devices such as the Oculus Rift are “anti-social,” adding that it can do great with core gamers but may stumble in the larger casual market.
This skepticism will be put to the test starting this year with the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive having been released earlier this year and the Sony PlayStation VR about to come out later this October. There are also rumors that the Xbox One will get one too in 2017.
