At the beginning of this year Oculus VR said at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, that 2017 would be the year of content for their platform. Jason Rubin, VP of Content for Oculus, says that there are now more than 300 titles for the Oculus Rift that support Oculus Touch controllers and over 2,000 titles for the Oculus platform. The recent Oculus Unwrapped, London, showcased many of these videogames and experiences.
Among the titles playable at the event was a variety of different experiences from studios all over the world, including:
- Marvel Powers United VR
- From Other Suns
- Killing Floor: Incursion
- The Climb
- Gear VR Lounge (showcase various Gear VR experiences)
- Brass Tactics
- Arktika.1
- Robo Recall
- The Unspoken: Acolytes
- Mission: ISS
- VR Sports Challenge
- Blade Runner
- Coco
- Dear Angelica
- Luna
- Dispatch
- Discovery
- Facebook Spaces
- Melita
- Audi
- Medium
- Fantastic Beasts
- Ubisoft: Space Junkies
With three rooms filled with various Oculus Rifts, Oculus Unwrapped also held panel discussions where Warner Bros. Entertainment confirmed that they are invested in virtual reality (VR) and are bringing their franchises and IP over to try and get more consumers to buy VR headsets. Elliot Grove, the Founder of Raindance Film Festival, spoke about how the content for the VRX Awards Raindance hosted this year showcased mature pieces of VR stories. He believes that when the New York Times started handing out free Google Cardboards and launched their VR app in 2015, that VR leaped from ‘geekdom’ into the mainstream. Yelena Rachitsky, Executive Producer for Experiences at Oculus VR agrees that for the first time VR is starting to cultivate talented and experienced developers that are starting to throw the rule books out when it comes to the creation of content.
It seems there was an overall consensus among the panelists that 2017 marked the year of very good VR experiences and stories. An example of the big impact VR will have in the future is Alejandro González Iñárritu winning a Special Oscar for his VR experience Carne Y Arena. VR has come a long way this year. As content creators continue to experiment, and companies such as Oculus VR help cultivate a growing community consumers can expect to experience exciting VR experiences.
Stay up to date and wait for VRFocus‘ upcoming interviews with Jason Rubin, VP of Content for Oculus VR and Yelena Rachitsky, Executive Producer for Experiences at Oculus VR. While you wait, you can watch this little recap video of Oculus Unwrapped.
via Mint VR