They don't invest in virtual reality anymore
Investments in AR/VR games have come to naught. The sad situation of virtual and augmented reality games by the 4th quarter of the year is demonstrated by the report of Digi-Capital.
Over the past three years, investors have steadily invested a lot of money in the AR/VR gaming market. In 2017 alone, it raised more funds than the esports, MMO/MOBA, console games and PC games industries.
But this year the situation is reversed. MMO/MOBA, console and desktop games received significant investments, and the AR/VR segment was left out. In the market of mergers and acquisitions, games with augmented and virtual reality have also been forgotten.
Investors’ lack of interest in AR/VR games looks strange against the background of the overall revenue growth of this market. According to analysts at IHS Markit, growth was 72% last year. The turnover of the AR/VR application market reached $3.2 billion.
The AR segment is promised audience growth in the next five years, while analysts consider the VR segment to be niche and therefore less profitable. But by 2021, according to forecasts, the user base of AR/VR headsets will amount to 75.7 million people (instead of the 28 million that exist at the moment), and the turnover of the sphere will grow significantly.
Nevertheless, judging by the Digi-Capital report, investors do not believe that placing capital in the AR/VR segment will bring them profit. However, IHS Markit has already noted that independent content producers with virtual and augmented reality have great difficulty returning even their own investments.
While the AR/VR market is losing investors, other segments of the gaming industry are gaining. And at a very fast pace. The volume of invested funds has reached an unprecedented level: $5 billion in just nine months.
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