6 VR Production Companies That are Changing the Game

Advanced headsets, tracking systems, powerful 3D graphics, rendering, and display — these are all components of virtual reality.

Virtual reality is immersion in a simulated environment that can mimic or equal reality. Though VR is fairly new, it is a very promising industry – judging by the rise in VR production companies – with the potential to transform how we live.

As it stands, the VR industry is projected to rise from an estimated five billion dollars in 2021 to an extrapolated $12 billion by 2024.

Interestingly, virtual reality existed way back in 1957. Experimentation with VR technology continued into the 1970s, but steady progress was elusive. Sluggish rates of development created a negative stigma around VR, making it seem infeasible. VR didn’t become popular until a resurgence in the mid-2010s when advanced VR technology emerged. VR conventions and festivals popped up thereafter.

VR is still largely seen as a gamer's tool. However, it can be applied to a wide variety of fields, such as additive manufacturing, meditation, higher education, e-commerce, architecture, and many others. The ever-widening range of applications has led many VR production companies to invest billions of dollars into VR, working tirelessly to create both software and hardware that will make virtual reality a normalized part of our day-to-day lives. Some of the biggest names in VR are outlined below.

Oculus

Oculus VR is one of the most popular VR production companies in the industry today. The company’s founder, Palmer Luckey, was obsessed with virtual reality when he was 15 years old. After experimenting with old VR technology, he cultivated what would become one of the world’s biggest collections of virtual reality devices. A meeting with John Carmack, a video game developer, resulted in a fruitful partnership that led to the development of Oculus’ software. Palmer named this technology Oculus, meaning a small opening, in an attempt to distance himself from the negative stigma surrounding VR.

Luckey sold Oculus to Mark Zuckerberg in 2016 for about $2 billion. Oculus both manufactures VR headsets — including the Oculus Rift and the Oculus Quest — and develops VR software. Currently, the Oculus Quest has been renamed to Meta Quest. Users will no longer require a Facebook account to log in. Instead, they will use an independent Meta account.

Angry Nerds

Angry Nerds is a software company co-founded by current CEO, Michał Błędowski, in 2015. This tight-knit crew enjoys working together, and as their name suggests, they are a team of nerds that spend time creating all kinds of software.

The company covers the full product lifecycle — from discovery workshops and software architecture design to prototyping and development, testing, and deployment. Angry Nerds provides solutions for enterprises, mid-level companies, and startups.

They are also experts in VR/AR software. They offer AR/VR solutions, front-end development, bespoke systems, data visualization, cloud services, and back-end development. They excel most in the information technology services, restaurant, and retail industries.

The NineHertz

The NineHertz was co-founded by the current CEO, Narendra Chauhan. The NineHertz is mainly a VR company that provides software solutions to enterprise, midlevel, and startup companies. They have a strong presence in the USA, UK, UAE, and India. Their main development center is housed in the latter. The NineHertz’s VR services include VR app development, VR game development, VR sensor apps, and 3D modeling in VR.

Aside from virtual reality, the company also provides other IT services such as mobile app development, web development, game development, and IoT app development.

Codeus

Codeus was founded by Milos Novicevic. The inspiration to start Codeus came when someone told him, “If you want to be successful at what you do, solve problems that money alone can’t solve.” Milos went on to found Codeus with a mission to help clients reach their most pressing goals with technology.

Codeus is a software development firm that specializes in VR solutions. The engineering team builds software solutions from scratch and modernizes existing solutions. The team shines in producing AR/VR solutions, front-end development, mobile app development, back-end development, implementation of features, and MVP development. Their services are tailored to the banking, entertainment, and computer game industries.

Queenslab

CEO Stefan Trailovic founded Queenslab in 2017 to create a harmonious ecosystem that bridges the gap between designers and developers, fostering an innovative world for the next generation.

Queenslab is one of the fastest-growing companies in Sweden, which speaks to its competence in constructing impactful software solutions. They are committed to creating VR solutions that solve their clients' most pressing problems.

In addition to AR/VR solutions, they provide services in data visualization, front-end development, back-end development, implementation of features, and ML/AI services. They generally cater to the automotive, computer software, and financial services industries.

Unity

Unity software company was founded in Copenhagen by Nicholas Francis, Joachim Ante, and David Helgason. The spark for the company was lit when Francis posted a callout for collaborations on an OpenGL forum in May 2002.

Francis wanted to work with a group on an open-source graphics tool for iOS game developers. Ante responded to Francis’s post, and the two began working together. Helgason joined soon after.

Unity allows game developers to create 2D and 3D games across platforms rather than writing new code for each one from scratch. Developers have the freedom to create environments and manipulate behavioral interactions, streamlining game production. According to Unity, about 53% of the top 1000 video games (i.e. Hearthstone, In the Valley of Gods) on both the iOS and Google Play Stores were created with Unity Engine. The Unity Engine also allows VR enthusiasts to develop 3D and VR content for a wide range of headsets.

Conclusion

VR is a promising field, and many more companies are interested in its advancement due to its overwhelming potential to change the course of technology — and by extension, our lives — forever. Very soon, many of our daily activities will likely involve some form of VR.

If you are looking to work with a VR production company, be sure to choose a company that specializes in your industry; their specific knowledge and expertise will maximize their efficiency and your results.

FAQs:

Q1. Who manufactures VR?

Oculus is a leading manufacturer of virtual reality, though there are many VR production companies operating today. Founder Palmer Luckey’s original design for the modern VR headset was so successful that a majority of other companies mimic it. Oculus’ foundational virtual reality headsets include the Oculus Quest and the Oculus Rift.

Q2. Which company is leading in virtual reality?

Oculus, Microsoft, Google, The NineHertz, and Unity are among the leading virtual reality production companies. Most companies create their own proprietary versions of Oculus’s headsets, though Google has specifically released a new headset with a mount for a smartphone or smart device to allow interaction with apps and games. Smaller software companies like Codeus and Angry Nerds also offer up-and-coming VR solutions.

Q3. Who is Oculus's biggest competitor?

Google Glass and Sony’s Project Morpheus are Oculus’ biggest competitors in the virtual reality industry. The Morpheus VR headset is setting the standard in quality with a high resolution and little motion blur. The Google Glass hasn’t yet been released due to security concerns, but it will be a huge competitor to Oculus Quest when released.