IGN deserves credit for covering PC VR games

[Saty]

I'm not gonna mince words here: most 'professional' video game outlets are failing at their job of covering noteworthy non-VR video games that aren't the obvious, known and well-marketed ones. For instance, about half of the best 20 player-reviewed 2019 releases on Steam have 5 or less (!) professional reviews. So with that in mind it follows that the PC VR segment too is neglected and overlooked by media. But it really is astonishing to me to see how much these outlets are failing at covering this segment when you consider how the PSVR is covered and how pretty much any big release on Sony's VR platform is getting loads of reviews and coverage.

Even the might and money of Facebook and Oculus couldn't help a Marvel VR game get more than 4 reviews. The latest Insomniac VR title is sitting at 8 reviews. Rest assured, the next VR title by Insomniac is going to be lapped up by critics because it will be on PlayStation. The acclaimed Asgard's Wrath with meager 6 reviews. The 4th most grossing game last week on Steam has 2 reviews.
It's staggering how the video game media can't be arsed covering noteworthy games that aren't on the reviewers' preferred platform. Like i said, it's not only a VR thing. The 4th best player-reviewed game this year on Steam, which has sold 1M+ copies, has 0 (ZERO) professional reviews of the PC version.

Any business-minded rationalizations for this frankly pathetic coverage are sidelined when we have a site as big and as concerned with clicks and money as IGN actually providing a decent coverage of PC VR games. Three of the six reviews for Asgard's Wrath on Opencritic are IGN's; 2 of the 8 reviews for Stormland. They are one the four that reviewed the Marvel VR game and one of the two that posted a Boneworks review. They are also one of the six outlets that reviewed Pistol Whip, a lesser-caliber recent release.

If IGN is able to provide coverage of PCVR, even if it focused on the biggest names, there is no reason to let the other outlets off the hook for their pathetic coverage of the segment. A total re-think is needed for how these publications and critics cover and select to cover non-VR and VR titles that aren't the obvious choices.

I would like to end this by once again giving props to IGN for covering PC Virtual Reality games. I hope they continue, expand and improve their coverage of the segment.

 

[Kalentan]

VR in general doesn't get many reviews. When Astro Bot came out on PSVR you were hard pressed to find any big outlets doing a review. It wasn't until people were raving about it that a lot of the big sites decided to review it.

Sadly that isn't that uncommon.

 

[Deleted member 4090]

IGN has always deserved credit for being the #1 reviews outlet in terms of overall game coverage. IGN's always been given a lot of shit for high average reviews, while their real average score was lower than other outlets, because there's less selection bias in the types of games that they will devote time and money to.

 

[Liam1884]

If IGN is able to provide coverage of PCVR, even if it focused on the biggest names, there is no reason to let the other outlets off the hook for their pathetic coverage of the segment. A total re-think is needed for how these publications and critics cover and select to cover non-VR and VR titles that aren't the obvious choices.

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Are you forgetting the fact that IGN is the biggest video game website in the world, and therefore literally has more people on staff to be able to cover these games? Nobody is as big as IGN or has the manpower that comes with that, it's not necessarily the fault of other websites.

 

[shadowhaxor]

OK, maybe it's too early for me (I've been fixing servers since 11PM), but are you referring to reviews on Steam alone, or in general?

 

[Podge293]

Eurogamer release a weekly video about a different VR game. they do touch on big games but also some gems in there

 

[Almeister]

Yeah, it's a tough one as the traditional games press is swamped to even properly cover the traditional games that get released these days. It's disappointing but also not surprising that a lot of sites haven't taken on VR coverage because it's almost an entirely different field that requires dedicated space and hardware. So it's always good to see when it is covered.

 

[Joni]

Do you know how much the publishers for these games are reaching out to outlets versus Sony doing the same?

 

[StraySheep]

I mean I think we should give props to most outlets more often.

 

[Specific Power Ranger]

I've worked a bit at a vr company that recently released a free to play title (which doesn't even feature any nefarious monitization. Only DLC packs that expand the scope of the free base game with new levels) and it's been pretty much impossible to get any big news media site to even mention the title.

Fortunately users who give it a chance are giving it good ratings so far, so theres a hope that word of mouth might carry it a bit.

Spoiler

it's called Glyph

 

[plagiarize]

I've often wondered exactly why so few gaming sites cover them. Eurogamer are one of the better ones and have like, ONE GUY right now.

I've had to find other sources for following VR gaming news. There's some good YouTube channels, and some sites like Upload VR or VR Focus do a good job, but I'd rather see it not treated like an 'other' thing.

 

[shadowhaxor]

I mean I think we should give props to most outlets more often.

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This. IGN isn't the only outlet that covers VR games. This is why I asked what I did previously. My outlet covers VR games, as does a whole bunch of them. As to another question that was asked, VR developers/publishers have been really cool to work with over the year. they want coverage and as long as you connect with them, they're really receptive to working with you.

 

[Protome]

I've often wondered exactly why so few gaming sites cover them. Eurogamer are one of the better ones and have like, ONE GUY right now.

I've had to find other sources for following VR gaming news. There's some good YouTube channels, and some sites like Upload VR or VR Focus do a good job, but I'd rather see it not treating like an 'other' thing.

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A lot of them covered VR pretty well to start with and fell off it because the traffic just wasn't there in the cases of the big sites and it was too awkward and time consuming for the smaller and video focussed sites.

I feel like with bigger games started to sell more impressive numbers though it's probably time for the big sites to take another stab at it. If the traffic still isn't there, then whatever drop it again.

 

[jotun?]

It's staggering how the video game media can't be arsed covering noteworthy games that aren't on the reviewers' preferred platform. Like i said, it's not only a VR thing. The 4th best player-reviewed game this year on Steam, which has sold 1M+ copies, has 0 (ZERO) professional reviews of the PC version.

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Which game?

 

[Saty]

Are you forgetting the fact that IGN is the biggest video game website in the world, and therefore literally has more people on staff to be able to cover these games? Nobody is as big as IGN or has the manpower that comes with that, it's not necessarily the fault of other websites.

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Gamespot, Polygon, USgamer etc. are big enough to cover the segment, and so are the medium-sized outlets and even the fan-backed websites that get thousands of dollars each month. Unless you just don't review PC games at all then it really shouldn't be deemed unreasonable for these sites to cover at least the very big PCVR releases. There are 70 reviews for Blood & Truth on OpenCritic. And you can be sure that come March with HL:Alyx all these sites that haven't covered anything PC VR will review that game. Critics are paid so they can highlight noteworthy games wherever they are, not only where it suits them or only the games by AAA publishers.

OK, maybe it's too early for me (I've been fixing servers since 11PM), but are you referring to reviews on Steam alone, or in general?

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I referred to player reviews on Steam to show how 'regular' games that are even in the top 20 of 2019 are also ignored and remain uncovered by professional outlets, angrily so. If my full-time job was to review and cover video games i would feel the responsibility to keep my eye on non-obvious titles to cover and highlight. It's as easy as going to steam250.com and listing the best user-reviews games of the year. Surely you'll find something that interest you to try.

Which game?

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Risk of Rain 2. The four reviews on OC are of the Switch version. Or how about Oxygen Not Included by freaking Klei that only has 2 reviews on OpenCritic.

 

[shadowhaxor]

If my full-time job was to review and cover video games i would feel the responsibility to keep my eye on non-obvious titles to cover and highlight. It's as easy as going to steam250.com and listing the best user-reviews games of the year. Surely you'll find something that interest you to try.

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Sadly, indie games and smaller AAA games just get overlooked. Either due to lack of interest, manpower, or a few other reasons. It's not right, but that's why there's a section of outlets where someone will ultimately pick that game up and play it. Sometimes it comes down to traffic and money, as we've seen. I'll be honest, most VR games get overlooked because VR hasn't been that powerhouse for many. Yes, it's picking up steam but you also have to remember the entry point still isn't cheap. On top of having a capable PC, you still need to drop $400 on hardware. For big outlets sure that's not an issue. For smaller ones, it is.

Trust, this trend you're seeing isn't going to continue.

 

[Liam1884]

Gamespot, Polygon, USgamer etc. are big enough to cover the segment, and so are the medium-sized outlets and even the fan-backed websites that get thousands of dollars each month. Unless you just don't review PC games at all then it really shouldn't be deemed unreasonable for these sites to cover at least the very big PCVR releases.

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What you're suggesting isn't reasonable whatsoever. Nobody outside of the very biggest websites can cover every game, and even then IGN will skip on stuff.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

I'll definitely give IGN credit here. They do actually cover it more than some of the other sites.

GameSpot might be the worst among the bigger journalists. They never cover VR unless it's something like Half-Life, and otherwise never review VR games unless it's again, at that same level of mainstream importance. They have almost no reviews for VR exclusive games in the last 2 years for example.

 

[jotun?]

Risk of Rain 2. The four reviews on OC are of the Switch version.

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Risk of Rain 2 is labeled Early Access on PC, which most review sites won't touch

 

[Arthands]

OK, maybe it's too early for me (I've been fixing servers since 11PM), but are you referring to reviews on Steam alone, or in general?

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In general, nearly every video gaming sites doesn't cover VR games unless its on console.

Vader Immortal, Asgard's Wrath, Stormland, Lone Echo and more gets next to no mentions, reviews or previews by sites like Eurogamers, Polygon, The Verge, Gamespot, PC Gamer etc, even though most of these are full fledged AAA title by AAA studios.

 

[shadowhaxor]

In general, nearly every video gaming sites doesn't cover VR games unless its on console.

Vader Immortal, Asgard's Wrath, Stormland, Lone Echo and more gets next to no mentions, reviews or previews by sites like Eurogamers, Polygon, The Verge, Gamespot, PC Gamer etc, even though most of these are full fledged AAA title by AAA studios.

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Well, that just goes to show that perhaps people should broaden their horizons. Maybe look at those outlets/persons who give a damn and do look at those titles?

There's no denying that these larger outlets should be giving VR a better look and all the platforms that involve it. As to why they aren't, that's a good question for them.

 

[Leviathan]

They probably so as many reviews as the outlets think people want and need. Maybe they are a part of throttling the growth of the industry...or maybe their lack of interest is just reflective of that of consumers in VR itself.

It's a business, so I'm sure it's just an assessment of what their readership wants. Most seem to have decided that the answer is "not that".

 

[Kinthey]

It's a shame how little attention there is. Lone Echo has a mere 14 reviews on metacritic

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/lone-echo

But we'll, it apparently just doesn't get the clicks

 

[Mobyduck]

VR games are a niche, so there will be less coverage as it gives less clicks. Same thing for most indie games. Most outlets can't afford to pay the extra writers to talk about a game that won't interest a large swathe of people. IGN, being the biggest, naturally makes more per article than other outlets, so they can afford the potential money loss that might come from writing about niche games.

 

[TaterTots]

This is one of the first things I noticed when I got into VR. Some games on Metacritic only have a few reviews lol. With the way sets are selling now and bigger games coming to the platform, that's bound to change in the next few years. Won't be so niche anymore.

 

[m0dus]

Laudable to a degree, but sadly not enough in the grand scheme of things. Especially from an indie perspective. VR games are indeed still a niche, but the barrier to entry is much lower than it was 5 years ago. it will take things like better exposure via major outlets for it to overcome this, and the willingness to cover smaller experiences (not sticking to "AAA" scale releases) and sadly while IGN covering those major releases is a nice step, there is still a long way to go.

 

[medyej]

Credit to IGN, their review of Asgard's Wrath is what made me look into it and it's one of the stronger games of the year that no one knows about.

Sadly it's an uphill battle already to get the bigger games press sites to care about PC exclusives to begin with, so a further step into PCVR is even less likely.

 

[Saty]

What you're suggesting isn't reasonable whatsoever. Nobody outside of the very biggest websites can cover every game, and even then IGN will skip on stuff.

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Good thing we aren't talking about every game. We're talking about the most notable VR releases and some the best player-received games. That's why i mentioned Steam250. You don't have to worry about wasting your time if you look at the top X games for a particular period. An outlet like Easy Allies is getting $44k each month. If i were a paid critic i would have wanted to also cover the lower-key titles that are positively received. If i were a person that has a say on a video game site i would strive to have members who cover the non-obvious stuff. I don't need 90 reviews of AAA games the average consumer already is aware and conscious of. In a way, it's betraying their responsibility and wasting the point of having a person getting paid to dedicate himself on covering video games.

Risk of Rain 2 is labeled Early Access on PC, which most review sites won't touch

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That long ceased to be an issue or excuse. Oxygen Not Included's full release happened in the summer. Two reviews. From the creators of Mark of the Ninja, Don't Starve, Invisible Inc...It's the 11-th best user-reviewed release this year on Steam. TWO reviews on OpenCritic. It's absurd.

 

[PC-tan]

I could be wrong but I thought I heard someone that there are something like 6 rule to making a VR game. And the very last rule is something along the lines of don't expect your game to get any marketing/press coverage.

So I guess the idea is that when you make a VR game don't expect the media to talk about your game at all and that you should instead focus on creating a community surrounding your game.

And from the looks of it, it sort of works.