News about the successful progress of Oculus Rift and Valve's VR tech indicate that we are finally approaching the age of consumer-friendly virtual reality gaming. Of course we are not there yet, but EA CEO Andrew Wilson isn't blind to the technology's potential to shake the market up.
Wilson categorizes current gameplay styles into three main "modalities": "Lean Back," "Lean In" and "Lean Over."
Lean Back modality refers to users who play through a home entertainment system with large HD TV and surround system. Those users "want high-def, high fidelity, highly immersive entertainment."
The second modality, "Lean In," is mainly for PC gamers who play shooters, RPGs and RTS games. "Irrespective of what computer is driving it, there's this proximity you have to the experience and that's the style you want to play that."
"The third is the 'lean over,' that mobile modality, whether it's a phone or a tablet."
Virtual reality introduces the fourth modality, "Get In," where players want to get in the game through a "headset or through some hologram that evolves out of your living room floor." Wilson believes that the technical details of the technology are irrelevant as long as it allows the player to feel inside the game.
"The thing I challenge my team to right now is, 'Listen, there's clearly a desire to add a modality of play to the three we're currently focused on. I don't know who the technology partner is that's going to deliver that modality for us, but let's start thinking now about the experiences [...] so that we can deliver experiences that make sense for you; experiences that deliver on the promise and the fantasy of being inside a video game."