The Future of Virtual Reality

The year 2022 saw over 80 billion USD of gaming acquisitions. Microsoft led the pack with the 68 billion USD acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Facebook and Google has made acquisitions in the gaming space as well, along with Sony and Tencent amongst others.

At the onset it appears a simple strategy to dominate the world of games, strategically they are more valuable buyouts with a wider objective of integrating AR/VR technologies in their business kit.

What is the big deal about AR/VR?

Let us have a look at the business growth seen in AR/VR in the last few years.

• VR market is estimated to grow up to 252 billion USD in the next 5 years.

• In 2019, about 5 billion USD of VR headsets were sold. This number is slated to touch 20 billion USD by 2023

• The B2C market for VR, which was estimated at 1 billion USD in 2017, is slated to touch 22 billion USD by 2027

• 75% of industrial companies that have implemented large-scale VR and AR technologies saw a 10% increase in operations

• According to some reports, the VR and AR market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 63.3 percent by 2025

VR is going to dominate the way businesses and people do things and it comes as no surprise that the big 3 will want to benefit from it. Let's have a look at the big 3 may benefit from their gaming buyouts.

Microsoft's Hololens

Microsoft has been into gaming for decades now. Though Xbox lags behind the likes of Playstation, it has its share of fan following with games like Gears of War. Microsoft has had Hololens too - the virtual reality headset which currently is used primarily in industrial applications. Automobile companies for example are now using Virtual Reality tools and devices to design automobiles, a task which once was done using life-sized clay models and took years to perfect. Buying leading gaming companies also allows Microsoft to have an edge in AR/VR technologies and open other revenue streams. VR has a wide array of industrial applications and Microsoft intends to stay on top of it.

Have a look at how Toyota is using Hololens for design reviews.

Facebook's Oculus

When Facebook acquired Oculus, it was seen as an experiment to enhance the social interaction experience. But as time has passed we have witnessed Facebook's scale of ambitions around the Metaverse. And being the connected world that Metaverse would be, the Oculus may just be the new platform on which we experience our worlds. If that happens it can be an even bigger opportunity than mobile phones.

Google

Google Glass was ahead of its time. But now that time may have come. Google's indirect acquisition of Gambit allows them to enhance their AR/VR technologies. The way we interact with the internet is going to change and with it, Google needs to adapt. Moreover, the Android buyout was one of their biggest successes after the search engine itself. Investment in AR/VR technologies will mean they will be ready for the next platform when the time comes.

Conclusion

VR is immersive. It brings good experience. There is no doubt that the future is going to be dominated by VR and businesses will flock to it as they have flocked to making mobile applications for today. It is only a matter of time now before the big 3 have made billions of dollars of investments in it.