The Harsh Realities of the VR Industry: From Consumer to Government Projects

The metaverse hype has briefly revived the VR industry, but insiders feel despair; the author interviews a former VR worker who says the sector is unprofitable and the metaverse label is a gimmick.

The worker spent over a year in VR, noting that consumer (to‑C) models are dead ends—cheap mall experiences and Steam games without adult content sell nothing—while to‑B hardware integration projects are difficult and unprofitable.

Profit is only possible by combining VR with theme parks; however, major parks like Disney have strict cost controls and strong in‑house IP teams, rarely using domestic VR content, leaving developers to either build their own parks.

Building parks forces VR firms into government (to‑G) contracts, turning them into content producers for public projects and exposing them to complex negotiations, high risk, and payment uncertainties.

An example illustrates a project that received generous local government funding but was abandoned after a leadership change, breaking the typical 70% upfront, 30% final‑payment structure and leading to endless revisions and financial loss.

To‑G work is hard because it requires dealing with local officials and large‑scale projects involving land and infrastructure, which carry the greatest risks.

The article argues that VR has no genuine metaverse; the term is merely a repackaged label for existing content, and concepts like NFTs and metaverse are portrayed as scams conflicting with state policies.

The VR industry is divided into three groups: large firms mainly handling to‑G theme‑park projects; content production teams (often state‑owned) with unstable cash flow; and hardware manufacturers—headset makers and ride‑equipment producers—who are the most profitable.

Theme‑park projects attract few visitors, and governments treat VR firms as novelty contractors, often requiring them to register renovation companies to win bids.

Overall, the VR sector is desperate; many professionals have moved to real‑world manufacturing, which offers clearer contracts, stronger government relations, and a more stable business environment.