Is Iron Man VR a preview of virtual reality’s future?

When Iron Man VR showed off its preliminary ideas for a game with the same name, people who had never even looked at virtual reality games before were starting to pay attention.

Of course, none of this was shocking to VR devotees who know all about both massive, location-based VR arena games and the games available for home headsets like Oculus Rift and PSVR.

But Iron Man VR could be a lot bigger deal than just being a bit of cool IP coming out soon. It could literally change everything for virtual reality gaming, and here is an opinion as to why it could do that.

If you were to read about the current state of virtual reality games, you would find a world of mixed results and pessimistic expectations on the parts of everyone but the key VR headset manufacturers. VR is thriving in commercial and business applications, but it has never really taken off with the gaming public.

A lot of people think this is because VR doesn’t have a “killer IP” yet – a game that forces people to get up and buy a headset just to play that game. This notion has some historical precedence in video games.

Could Iron Man VR be virtual reality’s DOOM moment?

PC gaming was a relatively niche thing until DOOM came out. Then everyone wanted a PC that could run id Software’s demonic horror show. Could Iron Man VR (or something similar) be the DOOM that VR gaming needs?

It is possible, and way more than likely, that Iron Man VR does really well and spawns a series of clones, some of which might be superior to it and capable of carrying the torch as VR’s “killer IP.” Because DOOM wasn’t the first first-person shooter ever made. It is just the one that became a sensation. And the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a sensation if ever there was one. It also offers an almost unlimited set of possibilities for a video game.

Whether or not Iron Man VR is the game to explode the scene will rely largely upon how good that title is and how compelling Iron Man is as a property. But you can be sure that, if it does well, we’ll see a ton of VR superhero games following in its footsteps.

All of which makes complete sense, given how much money these properties make for Marvel and how a VR game might be the closest thing to actually being the superhero in question.

Marvel universe has unlimited potential

No one should deny how compelling the “wish fulfillment” factor of a superhero simulator game can be. That’s why we think Iron Man VR could be a way bigger deal than people might think at first glance.

Aside from the struggles that VR gaming is having in converting people to its format and attracting new developers, it also lacks in big-name franchises. Iron Man VR brings the almost unlimited world of the Marvel Universe to VR. This has the chance to do no less than reshape the VR gaming landscape and transform it from a niche segment into a dominant pillar of the industry.