In 2013, Oculus VR’s booth at Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry’s biggest annual convention, was relegated to a far corner of the showfloor near the restrooms.
However, at the 2014 expo this week, the startup, which Facebook bought in March for $2 billion, drew crowds of oglers for its latest virtual reality headset, Oculus Rift.
The change is a sign of the rising interest in virtual reality platforms among publishers and developers, who hope the years-old technology — which creates a 360-degree view that immerses players in fantasy settings — can finally become a viable platform to reverse shrinking video game industry revenues and draw a new generation of users.
Whether gamers will buy into that remains to be seen, but Facebook’s big bet has jolted gaming companies into action.
