Sony’s excellent support for the PlayStation VR, which includes games such as Astro Bot, appears to have begun to pay off for them. SuperData reports in a tweet that the PlayStation VR was the best selling VR headset worldwide for 2018, with 1.3 million units shipped.

It beats out the Oculus Go, which came in second with 1.1 million, and Samsung Gear VR, which came in third with 600,000 units sold. These numbers do illustrate one thing—while the successful PlayStation VR is leading this market segment, the market segment isn’t too large to begin with.

However, as noted above, there have been some great games released for the system in the last few months, and hopefully they will begin to spur on adoption for the headset at an accelerated pace in the coming months. Whether that means that PlayStation VR is the market leader of a great, lucrative market or not remains to be seen.

https://twitter.com/_superdata/status/1068603074619551744?s=21

It looks like slowly but surely, the PlayStation VR is beginning to take off. It didn’t make much of a mark last year, and its underperformance led to a lot of people downgrading their expectations from it, and from the VR market in general. However, Sony, it seems, is in for the long haul- and their efforts may even be bearing fruit.

According to the International Data Corporation, the PlayStation VR ended up shipping 429,000 units in the first quarter of this year. Which is… a pretty okay performance, although it wasn’t the highest selling VR headset. That honor went to Samsung’s Gear VR, which 489,500 units worldwide. The HTC Vive did pretty well too, especially considering its price, shipping 190,900 units worldwide. The Oculus Rift was a dismal flop, shipping less than 100,000 units worldwide over this three month period.

But all of this is to say- it looks like there is some life to the VR market yet. For now. Whether or not this early success can be capitalized on for the market to develop and grow into something new entirely, is something that remains to be seen for now.

GamingBolt had a chance to speak to Robot Invader’s Chriss Pruett about Dead Secret, what inspired the decision to bring the game to PlayStation VR, gameplay elements and his thoughts on the overall future of VR.

"All of the original controller-based gameplay code still lives in Dead Secret. As we rebuilt it for VR the TV-based play systems have remained intact (in fact, we showed it running both on a TV and in VR at PAX East this year)."

Can you tell us about the development process for Dead Secret? What inspired you to also develop for PlayStation VR?

Chris Pruett: Dead Secret began its life as a TV / tablet game way back in 2013. Though we built a compelling prototype, we weren’t sure what to do with it. There wasn’t much of a market for narrative-heavy tablet games, Greenlight made Steam look pretty scary, and the PS4 hadn’t launched yet. We put the project on the shelf and went to work on another title (Wind-up Knight 2, the sequel to our studio’s hit platformer). When that game shipped in the spring of 2014 we started noodling with Dead Secret again. At the same time we got our hands on an early Gear VR development kit and had our first Oculus DK2 experience, which was staggering. It was clear that Dead Secret was a natural fit for VR, so we tore the project apart and sewed it back together again as a VR game.

Could you tell us about the console roots that Dead Secret still remains faithful to? How did this affect the process of developing for VR and the gameplay differences that will be present in the PS3/PS4 versions?

Chris Pruett: All of the original controller-based gameplay code still lives in Dead Secret. As we rebuilt it for VR the TV-based play systems have remained intact (in fact, we showed it running both on a TV and in VR at PAX East this year). However, the transition to VR caused a dramatic change to the user interface. We removed all of the two-dimensional elements from the game: the HUD, traditional subtitles, even the main menu. Everything was rebuilt to work in 3D space.

Patricia’s thoughts and commentary now appear tacked onto the surfaces that she is looking at. The HUD is gone and only a context-sensitive reticle remains. Documents, which once appeared as simple text overlays, are now carefully-rendered pages in Patricia’s notebook. When you look down, you see her body. These changes were all requirements for VR, but we were surprised by how much better they made the traditional version of well. VR forced us to streamline our interface, and the console version of Dead Secret was dramatically improved in the process.

Dead Secret has looked upon games like Siren, Deadly Premonition and Clock Tower for its influences. What are thoughts on the current contemporary state of horror, especially with each game seemingly being the “new P.T.”?

Chris Pruett: This is a pretty good time to be a horror gamer. The golden age of console horror design was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when scary games were on the forefront of story-driven game design. Many of the narrative systems we find in all sorts of genres today were established by horror games during that time. I think that era ended in 2004 with the release of Resident Evil 4,which single-handedly disrupted several major game genres and made earlier horror titles look dated. After that there was quite a slump. The number of releases dwindled and there are only a few titles from that period that have proved influential. I think we can safely credit the end of that downturn with the release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent in 2010.

The success of Amnesia showed that games made by relatively small teams could reach significant success by focusing on the things that horror has always been good at: story, environment, and subtlety. There were several other post-Amnesia success stories (Slender and Five Nights at Freddy’s come to mind, though there are others), also made by small, independent studios. As the indie development scene has grown, horror has experienced a major comeback. These days you can fire up Steam or turn on your PlayStation and find a wide selection of horror games, from brutal gore-fests to psychological mind-benders. As students of horror design, there’s a lot for us to be excited about.

"VR in general is very difficult to get right from a game play perspective. Many of the common game design patterns used for years on console and PC games simply do not apply to VR."

What gameplay aspects of Dead Secret will players have to become used to in order to find Harris Bullard’s killer?

Chris Pruett: Gameplay in Dead Secret is straightforward. You explore the environment by moving your reticle (using the analog stick or, in VR, by simply looking around) over areas to investigate and selecting them. Dead Secret is about exploring the crime scene for clues at your own pace. Peek in the cupboards, look under the sofa cushions, and examine the names of the book on the shelf. To name Harris Bullard’s killer Patricia will need to accumulate enough evidence to reconstruct his bizarre past and piece together the events that led to his murder. But don’t get comfortable—Bullard’s killer is still on the loose, and if he catches up to Patricia she’s done for. At points you’ll need to make split-second decisions to escape a grisly death.

What unique challenges did you face when developing for PlayStation VR?

Chris Pruett: VR in general is very difficult to get right from a game play perspective. Many of the common game design patterns used for years on console and PC games simply do not apply to VR. We mentioned the HUD and user interface above, but there are many other areas that are similarly affected. Creating a comfortable motion system, for example, is very hard. Our approach to locomotion is designed around the basic properties of the human vestibular system, and we did a whole lot of user testing to make sure we’d gotten it right. There are many areas like this that we take for granted when playing on a TV that must be completely rethought for VR.

Will Dead Secret release on any other VR platform in the near future, especially if devices like Oculus Rift prove their success?

Chris Pruett: Yes. Dead Secret is available on the Gear VR today, and we have announced it for the Oculus Rift as well.

There are many unique exploration titles, particularly in the first person mode, which will be releasing for the VR platform next year. What makes Dead Secret unique and how will it stand out in the crowded market?

Chris Pruett: Our focus is on the three traits of horror games I named above: story, environment, and subtlety. Our goal has been to achieve “presence” in VR—the feeling that you are really there in the crime scene. We’ve put a huge amount of detail into the story and environment. For example, every room in Dead Secret has a unique soundscape designed just for that room. We’ve also put a lot of work into making the experience a comfortable one.

The movement system I alluded to above took us the better part of a year to get right, but it allows just about everybody to move about the house in first person without experiencing motion sickness. Finally, I think that these sorts of games are defined by the narrative that they provide rather than the viewpoint of their camera. As far as the market for creepy murder mysteries that take place in rural Kansas in 1965 go, we’re pretty confident.

What are your thoughts on the overall potential for VR in the long run?

Chris Pruett: We think it will represent a new medium, a brand-new way to experience software unlike anything that we’ve had up until now. It won’t happen overnight, but this technology will change the way we work with computers, and the way we communicate with each other using computers.

"As game design connoisseurs, proper PS2 emulation is a big deal to us. A huge chunk of the golden age of horror games mentioned above ran on the PS2, and many of those games are absolutely worth playing."

Do you believe that the overall price and investment required for VR could hinder it or at least limit its outreach to the general populace?

Chris Pruett: No. Once you’ve tried one of the contemporary VR devices out there, the potential is immediately apparent. It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of being in a virtual space to somebody who hasn’t tried it. As folks bring these devices into their homes I think you’ll see adoption pick up pretty quickly.

Is the game going to run at 60fps and 1080p on the PS4?

Chris Pruett: The PS4 version of Dead Secret is still in development, so I can’t comment yet.

Is there a specific reason why the game is not coming on the Xbox One?

Chris Pruett: We’d love to do an Xbox One version!

As a developer and a gamer, what are your thoughts on the recent announcement by Sony for PS2 emulation on PS4? Do you think it holds value especially given that a number of games are due for the next year and beyond?

Chris Pruett: As game design connoisseurs, proper PS2 emulation is a big deal to us. A huge chunk of the golden age of horror games mentioned above ran on the PS2, and many of those games are absolutely worth playing. There are many titles on that platform that could not be made today simply because they are beyond the means of most independent studios but too niche for a large publisher to consider. It’s a catalog of thousands of games.

Did you see the HoloLens demonstration at E3 this year. What are your thoughts on Hololens?

Chris Pruett: It’s too early to tell! But I think that it’s likely to be targeted at enterprise rather than games, at least at first.

Will Dead Secret be your only title for VR or are there any other ideas in the pipeline?

Chris Pruett: We’re already hard at work on a new VR title. Stay tuned!

Unlike many of the elaborate AAA blockbusters that decades of refinement have brought to the current generation of consoles, Gunner is an arcade shooting game wherein you man a giant turrent and fire at alien ships. It’s been aptly described as “Space Invaders in VR” but pretty much demonstrates an experimental framework within a commercial game concept. GamingBolt had the opportunity to speak to nDreams CEO Patrick O’ Luanaigh about Gunner and the various challenges the development team faced.

"Gunner was designed specifically for the Gear VR, and we felt that not requiring a controller would provide an intuitive first VR game for people – just turn your head to shoot!"

Rashid K. Sayed: From working in a single-room office, developing prototypes, to raising $2.75 million and creating Gunner, the first commercial Gear VR title – how has the nDreams’ journey in the gaming industry been thus far?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: We have certainly had a crazy few years, and it has been an exciting ride so far. We started working in PlayStation Home, creating a big global ‘alternate reality game’ for Sony called Xi. It went really well, and we used that as a springboard to become the largest publisher on PlayStation Home, which was a fantastic platform for experimenting and trying things out. We grew year by year, up to around 20 people.

Then, just over 18 months ago, we tried out an Oculus DK1 and Sony’s Project Morpheus, and fell in love with Virtual Reality. I immediately felt that it was going to be something genuinely revolutionary – an incredible way to immerse players in new worlds. So we pivoted the company to focus on VR. Since then, we have grown to 30 people, working on launch titles for all the major VR headsets.

Rashid K. Sayed: What prompted you to make Gunner a virtual reality game, especially given its relative youth in the industry and in commercial use?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: Since we started working on VR, we spent time talking to both Oculus and Sony about VR, and were lucky enough to hear about the Gear VR fairly early on. When we first heard about it, we sat down to think about a game design that would really suit the headset, and could be created relatively quickly in time for launch. So Gunner was designed specifically for the Gear VR, and we felt that not requiring a controller would provide an intuitive first VR game for people – just turn your head to shoot! The hardware launch took a little longer than expected, so we used the extra time to polish the game and add some new features like the “horde mode”.

Rashid K. Sayed: You’ve described Gunner as “Space Invaders in VR”. What more can you tell us about the gameplay and its relative length compared to today’s non-VR titles?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: We have a narrative-based story mode which covers five missions (each taking about 15 minutes), and a horde mode, which allows you to play endlessly, competing against other player’s scores. We’re also planning some DLC in the future to add additional missions, and some other cool features. We have motherships, different planets, different types of enemy ships and a variety of weapons and add-ons as you progress through the game.

"Actually, Gunner is just one of five VR titles that we have in development. We have a second Gear VR title called Perfect Beach launching soon, and we’ll be talking about a much bigger VR game for Morpheus, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift called The Assembly at E3 in June."

Rashid K. Sayed: What’s the key difference in developing for VR as opposed to developing for your usual gaming platforms? What benefits has it presented over the traditional methods of gaming?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: There are many differences, but some of the most important are: Cut-scenes don’t work well in VR, so don’t tell your story using cut-scenes; control systems need to be rethought, particularly movement; movement speed and rotation speed need to be realistic; GUI and on-screen displays are tough in VR; try to avoid them, particularly text; and finally, don’t drop players into the action – people like to look around and explore in VR!

Rashid K. Sayed: Now that Gunner is commercially available, what hurdles and challenges are you facing with the game?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: It’s great to have a VR game live and generating revenue. We’re keeping our eye on the hardware install base, and watching how that develops over time. The current Gear VR has been launched as an ‘Innovator Edition’, so it’ll be interesting to see how Samsung market and sell the headsets, as well as what happens later in the year. John Carmack has talked about new Gear VR models launching later this year in a much more public-facing way, so we’re looking forward to really pushing Gunner towards a much bigger audience when that happens.

Rashid K. Sayed: Will your next game also be a VR title? Or will you continue to focus on Gunner for the foreseeable future?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: Actually, Gunner is just one of five VR titles that we have in development. We have a second Gear VR title called Perfect Beach launching soon, and we’ll be talking about a much bigger VR game for Morpheus, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift called The Assembly at E3 in June. It’s a high quality VR first-person adventure game with a great twisting narrative, designed for VR from the ground up. We also have a couple of other VR titles that we haven’t discussed yet – all we can say is that they’re very exciting!

Rashid K. Sayed: Will Gunner had additional content somewhere down the line, perhaps in the form of free levels and such?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: Yes – we’re planning some DLC later in the year with additional missions and some gameplay-expanding surprises!

Rashid K. Sayed: What are your thoughts on co-op gaming for VR devices? How possible would it be down the line and could Gunner implement it at some point?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: We’ve been playing around with some multiplayer VR technology and it works really well – so there is absolutely no reason why co-op (or competitive) gaming won’t work just as well in VR than it does on standard PC, console or mobile games. I don’t think it’s something we’d do for Gunner, but it’s definitely something that you can expect to see from us in the not-too-distant future.

"Mobile VR has a huge future – it’s relatively cheap, wireless, mobile and accessible by a huge audience. So I think you’ll see Samsung continue to lead the way as they develop and grow Gear VR, but other companies entering the space."

Rashid K. Sayed: What are your thoughts on HTC/Valve’s Vive and Sony’s Project Morpheus? Will you create games for these VR platforms alongside Rift and Gear VR?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: They are both fantastic headsets, and we have been working with the Morpheus for quite a long time now – we’re thoroughly enjoying developing for it. I had the chance to play with the Vive at GDC and it blew me away – it’s an incredible piece of hardware, it’s the accuracy of the Lighthouse tracking system that makes it so special. We’re working on launch titles for both headsets, so – as they say – watch this space.

Rashid K. Sayed: Concerning the future of VR, do you believe that it will propagate beyond Samsung’s Gear VR into a wider stream of mobile devices? How far would we be from VR gaming on the go?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: Mobile VR has a huge future – it’s relatively cheap, wireless, mobile and accessible by a huge audience. So I think you’ll see Samsung continue to lead the way as they develop and grow Gear VR, but other companies entering the space. I think it’s highly likely that companies like Google and Apple will deliver VR headsets – either themselves or in partnership with other companies – and I expect mobile VR to be a very fast growing segment of the VR space.

Rashid K. Sayed: Oculus Rift has come a long way in the last 2 years but there is still a bit of confusion regarding what games it supports and games that it does not work with. Do you think fast paced games like First Person Shooters will work with Oculus Rift?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: At the moment, I don’t think fast paced shooters work well on any VR headset, and I’m not convinced they ever will. Why? In good VR, you have a sense of presence – you *believe* you’re actually there. And, in the real world, if you spin around three times per second or accelerate at the speed of Usain Bolt heading off the blocks (like you do in a game such as Call of Duty), you’re going to feel pretty ill pretty quickly!

Your body is used to doing things at a comfortable ‘realistic’ speed – turning no quicker than one revolution every couple of seconds for example. So I don’t think ports of high-paced console/PC shooters will work in VR. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see great first-person shooters – they will just be a little different. They will be slower paced. They will feel much more like reality – and that’s great!

Rashid K. Sayed: Regardless of the potential on offer, it’s the games line up that matter so what kind of software catalogue do you think these VR devices will have on launch?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: I think all the hardware companies understand the importance of great software and I strongly suspect that you’ll see a lot of VR titles being revealed at E3, Gamescom and TGS in 2015. More and more developers are getting involved with VR, and that’s a great thing for everyone planning on buying a headset.

"I think all the major headsets are more than good enough for launch now. No doubt over the years, resolution will continue to increase, but having used them extensively, I think they are good enough for a great VR experience as they are today – it’s a great starting point."

Rashid K. Sayed: Another issue that I am not clear on is the costing of these devices. Obviously you would need a mid tier pricing scheme so that people can buy your games. What kind of retail price tag can you estimate for these devices?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: I don’t know the initial retail price of any headset other than the Gear VR (which is £169 as I type this), but I suspect they will be more expensive than most people imagine. VR technology is pretty advanced, and most new technology tends to be pretty expensive at launch, with costs dropping over time. I don’t think VR will be any different, particularly when you consider the cost of two Lighthouse boxes and controllers for the Vive, for example!

Rashid K. Sayed: The resolution is still an issue with these devices. What kind of improvements do you think we will see in this regard in the future?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: I think all the major headsets are more than good enough for launch now. No doubt over the years, resolution will continue to increase, but having used them extensively, I think they are good enough for a great VR experience as they are today – it’s a great starting point.

Rashid K. Sayed: Do you think DX12 will have a major impact for VR Gaming?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: Yes. DX12 seems to be incredibly fast and capable of delivering some massive performance benefits. We’ve been talking to both AMD and nVidia, and I think you’ll see the combination of DX12 and new PC graphics card technology make high-resolution, high quality, high frame-rate PC VR achievable. The work that AMD are doing with Liquid VR is incredibly impressive, and their SDK and hardware will allow super lower-latency VR. The nVidia Titan X is also amazing, and I suspect will take full advantage of the power of DX12.

Rashid K. Sayed: Is there anything else you want to tell us before we let you go?

Patrick O’ Luanaigh: Well, that was a very exhaustive set of questions. All I’d say is to keep an eye out for our announcements and reveals coming out of E3 2015!