Is Apple’s Vision Pro paving the way for a new “spatial gaming” market? Or are we at the start of another VR hype cycle?
The game industry is aflutter with speculation over the viability of Apple’s Vision Pro as a potentially disruptive new gaming platform.
While most industry observers are skeptical that Vision Pro will reinvent gaming in the same way Apple’s iPhone and App Store did, it’s worth taking a closer look at how this new device changes the dynamics of the AR/VR market — or what Apple is now referring to as “spatial computing.”
Vision Pro is clearly not marketed to the average customer, let alone gamers of any sort. It clocks in at $3,499 for the base 256 GB model and closer to $4,000 if you want things like a travel case, AppleCare+, and optical inserts for prescription glasses.
Instead, the messaging around the device has focused on productivity, immersive viewing experiences, and a spatial reimagining of the app ecosystem, allowing users to slip in and out of total immersion with pass-through video, spatial audio, and resizable windows.
More than 600 dedicated apps were available for use in Apple’s visionOS at launch, though there were several notable absences. Vision Pro doesn’t appear to have many notable launch games, though, nor do any of them seem to be particularly…
