Although it seems clear that none of the entertainment software giants wants to be the first to make the leap to virtual reality (among other things because there is no final hardware available), it seems that everyone, to a greater or lesser extent, is conducting tests and experiments. EA confirms that it has some of its games running internally in virtual reality. They should do like in Alien Isolation and let us play too, right?
We already commented a year ago that the Frostbite engine was being adapted to the Oculus Rift, and it seems that the fruits are coming. In an interview with Gamespot, EA claims to be very excited about the potential of Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus, but they are clear that there has to be a large player base before they decide to port any of their sagas to virtual reality. The saying of the chicken and the egg is more current than ever, but it seems clear that the hardware will have to be the first to arrive.
Blake Jorgensen, CFO of EA, claims that they are already experimenting with virtual reality. In fact, several of its games already work on virtual reality devices internally. “It’s very exciting; the challenge we have before people who suffer from dizziness, it’s very complicated. I have seen that some people had to take off their HMD in just 30 seconds because… it’s too immersive. It’s an incredible experience and I think there’s a great opportunity, but there are certain steps that have to be taken so that people can enjoy it without getting dizzy right away.” According to Jorgensen, EA will support all relevant platforms, and just as they do today with consoles, mobiles and PC, when the time comes they will be able to add virtual reality to this list.
“If virtual reality takes off, either independently or as part of some other platform, we will be there to build games. If you take a look at our catalog, you will see that they are very appropriate for virtual reality because we create huge and immersive worlds in which people play. And obviously it would take more technology to take advantage of them one hundred percent. It’s similar to shooting a 3D movie versus a 2D movie, but we’re confident we’ll get there and keep experimenting.”
