Don’t worry, VR isn’t dying – this weird XR arcade cabinet just made me fall in love with my Quest 3 all over again

The start of 2026 hasn’t felt all that great if you’re a big believer in VR. Meta, the de facto monarch of the space, given its popularity and, until recently, major support for the sector, decided to kick the year off with a round of layoffs, leading to the shutting down of some of VR’s most talented game studios and cancellation of some hotly anticipated titles like an Arkham Shadow sequel.

It’s not just Meta. An industry-wide slowdown has sent a wave through the VR community, which has seen third-party studios lay off staff, and Valve – seen as a possible prodigal savior of VR – has indicated that the Steam Frame might be impacted by the ongoing RAM crisis, i.e., don’t expect it to be cheap.

As things look bleak I’ve taken stock of my VR experiences over the past few months and realized ...