The VR userbase isn't big enough to hit mainstream and be financially worthy for AAA titles developers/publishers. 1.3 million out of 90 million is 1.7 percent.
First of, you need high-end hardware that is VR capable.
And then you have Oculus, a start up that was financed by crowdfunding, then sold to Facebook, and HTC Vive selling VR kits in a rip off price.
VR has a negative reputation of "extremely over-priced gimmick like 3D glasses".
Half-Life Alyx could be a good promoter for VR, but the prices must go down.
Even the budget ones (Lenovo, Odyssey) are in the 300+ range at the moment and out of stock.
I don’t disagree with those numbers.
However I won’t sign on to an assertion beyond that. You do not need high-end PC hardware and you do not need a high-end HMD, this is just false. This assertion is just as wrong as saying you need a high-end 4K, 6K or 8K monitor to play typical PC games and it’s also just as wrong as saying you need a high-end RTX 2080 Ti or Super to play PC games. Nor does one need the best HMD that money can buy to play VR games. One might want the best but one does not need the best to play VR titles.
There are plenty of gamers using 1080p monitors or even lower resolutions as well as entry level video cards or midrange video cards Etc,.....and there is nothing wrong with that! Naturally you get a better experience if you have more money to burn but that is often true of many (but not all) things.
It’s also worth pointing out that it might be more expensive to source some computer hardware in some countries with respect to others, so there may be regional consideration. Timing can also be an issue. There is also the issue that not everyone has the same tolerance to pain when it come to what is and isn’t considered expensive.
As for VR games, it’s clear there needs to be some work done here especially so for AAA. However, there are some really enjoyable titles out there that yield some great experiences. I don’t know for certain that Half-Life: Alyx is one of them but I suspect that it is.
I would like to buy Half-Life: Alyx and Doom Eternal right now but I’m a little hesitant to drop ~$120 USD on video games just now. If the Economy slows and there are signs everywhere that it is, then the prudent thing is to be a little more conservative with the spending. I’m not used to spending ~$120 USD on a couple of video games at the best of times. Truth be told I often wait for games to drop in price.
I wouldn’t spend ~$500 to ~$1000 USD for an Index or any other HMD and I’m sure many other people wouldn’t either. None of this changes the fact that Valve was selling out of their ~$1000 HMD offering though. Therefore there is a demand for it regardless of what we might say or feel about it.