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Heavy Rain Dev Experimenting With VR, But Won't Force It

David Cage thinks his style of games could work well in VR, but he won't force anything.

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Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream is known for its story-focused games, and in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, director David Cage said that his style of game could work well in virtual reality. Despite this, he won't make a VR game just for the sake of it.

"We have all VR systems installed in the studio, and I encourage my teams to try them out," Cage said. "We've downloaded every game on every system to try and understand where people are right now, what works, and what doesn't work, and what we could bring to this medium.

"The idea is not to do VR for the sake of doing VR. It's about saying something on this medium that hasn't been said already."

Cage talked about the sense of presence the new technology can give players, tricking their brains into thinking certain things are real.

"If there's a character in front of you, your brain thinks they're actually there," he said. "So suddenly there's a distance you're trying to keep when you talk to them.

Detroit: Become Human
Detroit: Become Human

"I had a very weird experience in a VR game. It was during a cutscene where the characters are moving around me and I was very close to one, really looking at it. But I wasn't paying attention so when he moved forward, he went through my body. And I can't tell you how weird that felt. It was almost mystical, like someone going through you. You feel it. Your brain is tricked."

The director also talked about how games should be more than monsters and zombies, as they're capable of affecting people in profound ways. You can read the full GI.biz interview here.

Cage's next game is the PS4-exclusive Detroit: Become Human. It doesn't have a release date at the moment, but you can check out some gameplay from E3 2016 here.

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