What you need to know
- Apple's Vision Pro, an augmented reality headset, recently launched and is taking the tech world by storm.
- Palworld, a smaller game, launched to become the 2nd highest concurrent player count on Steam ever.
- Alex Volkov on Twitter (X) showed Palworld running on the Apple Vision Pro, and the need for native game support for more AR glasses became immediately apparent.
If you haven't had your Twitter (X), Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok feed filled with people running around with Apple Vision Pros on their heads on the Subway, driving their car, or getting pulled over, then consider yourself lucky. For most of us, the device is causing quite a stir in the tech world, and the FOMO is kind of real, but at $3500, it's hard to justify the purchase price. Luckily, what we discuss today can also be achieved on the much cheaper but still great XREAL Air 2 Pros. In fact, we even did a head-to-head comparison of the Apple Vision Pro and XREAL's new Air 2 Ultra, which just released at $700.
There is a real chance that where VR has failed to take off, AR might be able to succeed. The Apple Vision Pro has sparked interest in AR devices, but the price is obviously not consumer-friendly. We discussed this week how the Hololens 3 from Microsoft has a chance to be the AR device we all need right now. So, let's take a look at Palworld running on the Apple Vision Pro and delve into the potential future of gaming.
Can you play games on the Apple Vision Pro?
? Who said Vision Pro is not a gaming device? This is my set up to play PalWorld via Steam Link with a Bluetooth controller on the huge vision, pro screen on top of my kitchen sink?! pic.twitter.com/LsmvxkyUcyFebruary 3, 2024
In the post above from Twitter (X) user @altryne, we can see Palworld running on the Apple Vision Pro through Steam Link with a Bluetooth Xbox controller. While admittedly, Alex missed the plot here by playing the game on an uncomfortable chair at the kitchen sink instead of relaxing in a recliner, the proof of concept is still fantastic.
Alex explained the experience is actually quite smooth and playable. One thing gamers all know is that convenience is important for gaming. If you get the itch to play but have to spend 30 minutes fixing settings, updating drivers, get everything synced, sometimes it kills the mood, and we just do something else. Hopefully, Apple sees the desire for games natively on the Apple Vision Pro, and with the M2 chip inside, it should be able to play some games natively.
Is augmented reality the future of gaming?
We have heard that gamers have not successfully adopted VR as corporations wanted. Recently, during Ubisoft's Q3 earnings Q&A, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot talked about the disappointment that VR has been but praised the Apple Vision Pro.
"We have been a bit disappointed by what we were able to achieve on VR with Assassin’s Creed."
"It did okay, and it continues to sell, but we thought it would sell more, so we are not increasing our investment on VR at the moment because it needs to take off."
"We have been very impressed by what Apple came up with, and we think it’s fantastic hardware, but we continue to look at this VR business as something that we have to look at but not invest too much in until it grows enough." — Yves Guillemot
I am personally betting on augmented reality over virtual reality. For one thing, augmented reality is understood by millions of people thanks to scenes from Marvel's Iron Man and other MCU movies. You see a demo of it and immediately think, 'Oh, like Iron Man.' Virtual reality, though, closes you off from the world and leads to running into walls or punching somebody as they walk by you.
Microsoft has a real chance to compete in Augmented reality, especially with the Game Pass library. If Microsoft announced the HoloLens 3 this year and it had a Game Pass app native on it that could stream AAA games over XCloud, you could connect it to your Xbox Series X or PC via USB but also had an APU that could run smaller AA or independent titles natively all for under $1000, they could blow this market wide open.
With all of that being said, if you're itching to play some games in augmented reality but can't justify shelling out a couple of mortgage payments for the Apple Vision Pro, check out the XREAL Air 2 Pros below or the XREAL Air 2 Ultra's on XREAL's web site.
