John Carmack calls PC VR gaming a 'boutique niche,' says Half-Life Alyx wasn't that important

As one of the fathers of the FPS genre and the programmer responsible for both Doom and Quake's smooth gameplay, John Carmack is an absolute legend in the game development and PC gaming community. After leaving id Software, he's probably best known for jumping in on the rise of VR gaming, joining Oculus and then, later, Meta.

John Carmack is no longer at Meta, but over the weekend, the talented programmer took to X to post his feelings on the current state of VR - specifically PC VR gaming. It's no secret that VR never quite took off in the way PC gaming handhelds have in recent years. It's still considered a niche thing to put on a headset to play a game, even heavy hitters like Half-Life: Alyx or Star Wars Squadrons.

John Carmack notes that when it comes to VR, the release of standalone all-in-one headsets like the Meta Quest was "the biggest win that VR ever had." And it was never a case of the right AAA title arriving before everybody would get into VR gaming and make it mainstream. "Beat Saber was far more important than Half-Life: Alyx," he adds.

"Using a PC to drive VR experiences is a boutique niche," John writes. "Still valuable and definitely worth supporting as a bonus feature, but not something that was going to turn into even console level success, let alone mobile level. The economics of AAA development were never going to be widely brought to bear on a PC accessory. I do think there is opportunity for AAA content to profitably have 'VR bonus features' but not fully designed-for-VR projects at comparable levels of effort."

His sentiments mirror what we've seen in the console space, where Sony's PlayStation VR 2 headset for the PS5 failed to take off. The standalone first-party title Horizon Call of the Mountain felt like a fun but limited attempt at an immersive AAA-style VR game, while the VR add-on mode for Gran Turismo 7 felt like an unforgettable one-of-a-kind VR experience.

Also, the proof is in the sales - the Meta Quest 2's versatility and affordability as an all-in-one device has made it the most successful VR headset by a considerable margin.