April 27th 2016 was a big day for VR gaming, because that’s the day that Minecraft became available on the Samsung Gear VR. Minecraft is the first major household known game to be available for VR gaming, and it’s a major game in every sense of the word. Minecraft is the game where players are placed into an open world and are free to create anything they can imagine. The game has a myriad of modes some of which include: creative mode where players have unlimited resources to create whatever they want, adventure mode where players can explore custom maps or worlds created by other players, and of course there is a multiplayer mode. The game also has a unique, and some simplistic, graphic style for which it has become notorious.
Minecraft is insanely popular with over 70 million copies of the game sold as of June 2015; which makes it one of the best-selling video games of all time. Furthermore, and by popular demand, Minecraft is currently available on nearly every gaming platform including: Windows, Apple, and Linux operating systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & 4, Wii U, iOS and Android. Minecraft is very popular with kids, and for a lot of kids Minecraft is not a game they play, it’s the game they play. Playing Minecraft on the Samsung Gear VR has the potential to make it a much more immersive experience; you are in first person perspective creating, exploring, and just admiring the world around you as if you are actually there.
Minecraft is a game which is owned by Microsoft, and if the reception of Minecraft in VR is positive it could potentially pave the way for more major VR game titles from Microsoft. In order for Virtual Reality to be successful consumers need to feel like it’s something they have to have; and Minecraft being available on the Samsung Gear VR is something that millions of players may feel that they have to have. It’s the latest and greatest way to experience a favorite game of theirs and in this world of ever changing technology you have to keep up in order to stay relevant. All the new VR gamers which have been added by Minecraft’s large player base have the potential to play a major role in further developing Virtual Reality to be the future of gaming.
With its extreme popularity and massive user base (10’s of millions), the entry of a major title game like Minecraft into the world of VR could be exactly what the VR industry needs to help push the much needed adoption among consumers …especially among a critical demographic group—Generation Z.
Good luck Minecraft—the Touchstone VR team is rooting for you!
