Here’s How Long Meta Thinks the Perfect VR Gaming Session Should Last
A recent blog post from Meta’s developers hints at the future of VR gaming. Meta’s research into Quest user habits found a “Goldilocks zone” for VR on the company’s headsets, concluding that the optimal VR session time is between 20 and 40 minutes. VR can provide players with a fully immersive experience, but people generally don’t want to be immersed for too long.
Citing “observations of the behavior of most VR users, as well as research into when and why users quit,” Meta concluded that most Quest users find that a VR session shorter than 20 minutes isn’t worth the effort it takes to put on the headset, set it up, find the controllers, make sure the couch is out of the way, etc. — the quick experiences you get in mobile games don’t work as well in VR. But the hours-long, couch-melting sessions of console and PC gaming don’t work either. The enjoyment of VR experiences tends to decline if they go longer than 40 minutes. Eye strain, nausea, physical strain, and a sense of isolation eventually take over, and all the fun goes away.
How Game Developers Can Reach the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ of Virtual Reality
Meta’s post offers helpful suggestions rather than hard-and-fast rules, but it seems like the company’s advice will trickle down to game developers and influence their future work. First, because Meta says it and they own the store, but more importantly, because it’s actually good advice. As an anecdote, the “40-minute limit” rings true — anything longer than that makes VR give me a mild, “ I need to get out of here ” panic. VR has always been a battle between “this is so cool” and “I don’t like that thing on my face !” and it’s nice that Meta is being open about it.
The optimal time for a game session doesn’t necessarily mean that more complex and engaging experiences like those found in “traditional” AAA video games aren’t possible in VR, but they would be better if they were structured differently. To that end, Meta recommends that game developers avoid lengthy tutorials, opting to embed controls and mechanics into the actual gameplay, integrating shorter “progression loops,” building in breaks every 10–15 minutes, and frequent autosaving “so players can be confident they can pick up where they left off.” Among other things.
Lighter headsets could change the rules
Meta’s vision for VR has evolved since Oculus’s early days, when it increasingly suggested that “people will live in virtual worlds all the time .” In its blog post, the company notes that the “time constraints” of VR games are based on the current form factors of the Quest devices, and that future hardware developments — like a pair of lightweight Meta smart glasses that could provide a full-fledged augmented reality experience — will significantly alter the time constraints of the “Goldilocks zone.”