What does the games industry really think about virtual reality?

Sony, Microsoft and Valve all have immersive technologies to push this year, but are the big games publishers aboard the VR express?

Virtual reality was a big deal at this year's E3 video game expo in Los Angeles. Oculus was there showing off the latest build of its Rift headset, Sony revealed a new multiplayer shooter demo for the Project Morpheus, and Microsoft announced a partnership with Valve, seeking to make Windows 10 the software platform for the HTC Vive as well as all other PC-based VR devices. It also brought the "mixed reality" device Hololens along for the ride. There was much excitement.

But what do the mainstream games publishers really think about this new era of immersive technology? The spectre hanging over the whole industry right now is that, behind all the hype, very few VR or AR headsets have actually been sold to the public. The only commercially available mainstream products right now are Android phone extensions like the Samsung Gear VR and Zeiss VR One; Google ditched its Glasses project this year. The first big player to get a launch is likely to be the brilliant HTC Vive this winter, but it's going to require an ultra high-end PC, limiting its user base - at least at first - to enthusiasts.