In the early 2010s, when virtual reality gaming was first revealed, people thought it would either take the world by storm or quickly fade away. While both conclusions were proven wrong, recent changes in the behavior of young consumers have brought VR back to the spotlight.
According to NewZoo, the future of VR gaming is promising: virtual reality’s install base has shown signs of incredible growth over the past years. So much so that it is expected to go from 8 million active VR headsets in 2019 to 46 million in 2024, growing faster than any other gaming platform currently out there.
Recently, Half-Life: Alyx, an AAA game made exclusively for VR, showcased how polished and immersive high-quality games can get when playing with a VR headset. Amassing $64.6 million in revenue over six months, Half-Life: Alyx was a huge success.
Seeing how profitable VR games can get, many developers around the world have started learning all the tools and technologies required to create one themselves. But one question remains: how much does it cost to make a VR game?
In this article, we’ll explore the definition of a VR game, explain the differences between VR and AR, list some interesting VR games to inspire you further, talk about the factors affecting the development cost of virtual reality games, and explain why you should consider making a VR game yourself.
What is a VR game?
VR stands for “Virtual Reality.” Simply put, VR is the use of computer technologies to simulate a 3D virtual world. It goes deeper than that, though: in these universes, players can explore and interact with the simulated world surrounding them.
These worlds are accessible through an easily recognizable component: the head-mounted display, which is purposefully designed to immerse the player as much as possible. They accomplish this by following the head’s movement, which is promptly shown in-game, and by covering the player’s entire field of vision.
Knowing that, it’s easy to infer what a VR game is: it’s just a game that uses this budding technology.
Despite having existed for decades, VR was mainly used for medical, flight simulation, and military training purposes. There were some attempts at making it popular, but it was met with public and investment indifference until the early 2010s.
Recently, the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 shot VR gaming straight into the mainstream. According to Grand View Research, the global VR market is forecast to surpass 62 billion dollars in value by 2027 – just 5 years from now.
How does it differ from Augmented Reality (AR)?
Even though both technologies share some traits in common, they are fundamentally different. VR uses a completely virtual world while AR renders things on top of the real world. VR requires a special head-mounted device whereas AR can be enjoyed with a smartphone. Another crucial difference is that VR only enhances fictional reality while AR can enhance both the virtual and the real world.
Some famous VR games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
One of the best games of the past decade has a VR iteration, offering players a completely new way to experience it. Even though the game is fundamentally the same, being able to fully immerse yourself in Skyrim is a real game-changer.
Beat Saber
One of the top-selling VR games on Steam, Beat Saber is a rhythm game in which the player wields lightsabers to slash boxes to the beat of a song. As with all games within this genre, it includes a wide roster of popular songs – and players have created numerous mods to add even more, including meme ones!
Blade and Sorcery
Do you like fighting with magic? What about decimating foes with a bow and arrow? Or would you rather wield a sword and go ham on enemies?
No matter your preferences, Blade and Sorcery has it all. Select your desired difficulty and the arena in which you want to fight and mow your enemies down in this medieval fantasy sandbox.
How much does it cost to make a VR game?
Even though the price tag for a VR game can vary wildly depending on many factors (which we will list below), we can give you some rough estimates.
If you are developing your virtual reality game within the United States, simple titles will set you back around $4,000 to $10,000. Most titles, however, are a bit more complex, meaning the price tags are higher: $20,000 to $100,000. This is especially true for horror games, a popular genre in VR.
On the other end, AAA game developers can easily spend tens (or even hundreds) of millions on a big project. Take Cyberpunk 2077 as an example: despite not being a VR game, it had an estimated budget of $313 million. Another example: Skyrim’s VR iteration is believed to have cost more than $10 million to develop.
Factors that influence the final cost of a VR game
1. The development process
Planning and market research, development and asset creation, testing, marketing, launch, and post-launch support are the steps every game has to go through. VR games are not an exception to this rule.
Even though each and every step has quirks of its own, development and asset creation is where most of your money will go to. It’s not that programmers and artists are slow – in many cases, there are just too many assets and lines of code to be created, which takes time.
Keep in mind that hiring professionals (or outsourcing them) is not enough. For them to create their best work, you will need to get them suitable tools: computers capable of running them, drawing tablets, softwares, and game engine licenses (if applicable), which will add up in the long run.
Furthermore, marketing your game is very important. Of your total budget, we recommend spending around a third on publicity alone. The reasoning is simple: no one will play your VR game if no one knows about it.
2. Location of your hired professionals
As the global economy is not yet homogenous, if you’re living in the US, it’s possible to find developers, designers, and artists (or even entire game development companies) for rates much lower than local ones.
On average, VR game developer studios in the US and Canada charge $30 to $60 per hour of work. You can get Western European developers for a bit less and find Indian, Chinese, and Eastern European developers for even less.
So, if you’re looking to minimize your development expenses, look into hiring VR developers in foreign countries.
However, there are disadvantages to this approach, with the language barrier and timezone differences being the biggest ones.
3. The complexity of your VR game
Complexity and expenses are proportional figures. In other words, the more complex your game is, the more money you will need to spend on development. The reason for this is simple: complex games require more resources and time than simple ones. As development time is the main factor driving prices up, your final bill can skyrocket if you’re not careful.
4. The number of platforms for which you want to develop your VR game
While it’s possible to develop games for a single platform, they won’t reach every user out there. However, the game will be relatively cheaper than those that target multiple platforms simultaneously.
Why should you create a VR game?
Potential for high profits
As with anything in life, starting early can massively pay off in the future. Considering VR games are set to grow fast in popularity, the industry is likely to become a trillion-dollar industry in a few decades.
Increases your brand awareness
Even though games are discussed all the time on the internet, VR games receive much more attention relative to usual ones. All it takes is one fantastic VR game to become popular among streamers and gaming influencers. And the rest will build from there.
VR gaming is trending
Currently, VR is one of the most researched topics in gaming. As researchers explore the bounds of what is possible and what is not, increasingly complex applications are bound to appear. Then, it’s just a matter of time until they are implemented in VR games as well, creating experiences that were impossible until then.
Furthermore, if you take into account that people in general love novelty, it won’t be long until VR dominates a bigger portion of the gaming industry.
Summing up the VR game development cost
The cost can vary depending on various factors. The complexity of the game, the development team’s expertise, and the desired level of immersion all contribute to the overall cost. Additionally, factors such as the VR technology being used (e.g., Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR), the scope of the project, and the market demand for VR games play a significant role in determining the cost. It is safe to say that VR game development is an investment, as creating immersive experiences in virtual reality can require substantial resources and expertise.
The cost of developing a VR game can range from thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the scale and ambition of the project. However, the potential for success in the growing VR market makes it a worthwhile venture for game developers and enthusiasts alike.
We can create your VR game!
In this post, we explored the price tag of VR game development and the many factors contributing to it. Truth be told: it’s really, really hard to precisely pinpoint how much money you will need.
And even if you get an accurate estimate, keep in mind that VR game development has a lot of untapped potential – both in terms of features and revenue. Creating a game is difficult and time-consuming enough. And it’s further exacerbated by all the tools VR game developers have to learn.
For this reason, many choose to work with a game development studio like Main Leaf.
At Main Leaf, we create incredible games and deliver them right into your hands. We have more than 70 talented professionals who are ready to take on the development of your upcoming VR game. Our expertise in the gaming industry is tough to beat – we have been creating games on demand for our clients since 2010.
It’s common sense that hiring qualified professionals is the best way to get anything done, and with games, it’s no different. If you’re interested in working with us, make sure to request a game quote right now – don’t worry, we will get back to you within 24 hours!
