How to Approach VR and MR Development - Learnings from GDC

Today, we kicked off our sessions at GDC offering insights that you can use to improve your own VR and MR projects.

In this session, Sanzaru Games shared lessons learned when developing Asgard’s Wrath 2, celebrated as one of the best VR games available today. With Asgard’s Wrath 1, Sanzaru showed users what high-quality VR can look like by bringing AAA graphics to PC VR, combined with innovative mechanics and awe-inspiring narratives. In their second installment, Sanzaru aimed to build something bigger and better. In an effort to reach the largest audience possible, Sanzaru developed Asgard’s Wrath 2 for Meta Quest 2 and 3. Following its launch, Asgard’s Wrath 2 received a 10/10 “masterpiece” rating from IGN, but the lead up to this critical acclaim wasn't without its challenges or learnings.

Here are some of the learnings that the team shared with developers in the audience:

Onboarding. It’s important to get the player exploring faster. With the game, they realized that it could take too long to get to the open world, and too much time to get crafting online. For example, the ‘first follower’ mode takes hours of gameplay to reach. It’s crucial to hook the players earlier and let them freely roam the open area parts of the game.

Be brave. Cut things early when they’re not working and be prepared to shed.

Accessibility, accessibility, accessibility. For developers who are interested in building VR, we recommend starting with a clear vision and designing for comfort and immersion from the outset. It’s also important to test your game frequently and make adjustments based on player feedback to ensure that you’re delivering an accessible experience.

Analytics. Analytics. Analytics. Better analytics! Leverage the opportunity to know as much as possible. Why did the player quit, what was too hard for the players, and how did they die? The better developers can understand this about what they are building, the better they can readjust to make a better experience for the player to keep them engaged.

Big games need robust tools. Building better tools that enable users to quickly jump to parts of the game, and loading save states directly from debug from package builds.

Stay tuned for the full recording of this session!

We invited Jesse Schell of Schell Games to share his view on mixed reality, the next frontier of immersive simulation technology. We often discuss frequent questions around mixed reality: How is it different from VR? What are MR’s strengths and weaknesses? Who will use it and why? What can MR do now and what will it be able to do in the future?

Jesse shared a great insight with our audience: VR is the relationship between the real body, virtual objects, and a virtual world; while MR involves the real body, virtual objects and the real world. As Jesse later highlighted in his talk, the unique interaction with the real world is where we see the possibilities of MR take off.

The session underscored how every technology platform that sticks has a killer app. For business computing, it was spreadsheets. For home computing, it was the web. For smartphones, it was email. For VR, it was unquestionably games. In addition to games, what else can MR perform well for? Let’s take a look at key opportunities Jesse outlined.

So where is the long-term value with MR? Jesse identified three predictions regarding long-term value for MR:

Whether you’re building a highly immersive VR game or want to explore the nuances of building for both the physical and virtual worlds, we’re here to support you on your journey. Now that you’ve heard from pioneering developers at GDC who have found success in both areas, check out the following resources to start building today!

For more news, updates, and deep dives into all things virtual and mixed reality, follow us on our GDC journey on social and our Meta Quest for Developers blog!