The end of January saw 2016's Global Game Jam take place. Over a 48-hour period, the game jam saw 158 VR-ready games developed from the ground up and submitted. These games are compatible with a variety of devices, included the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, with some even utilising Microsoft's Kinect.
The theme for the 2016 Global Game Jam was "Ritual". Theme Committee Chair Bryan Ma wrote, "Our theme this year was chosen because of its rich cultural connotations, personal connections, and conversely, its connection with the mundane and ordinary."
The theme saw a variety of interpretations for VR, from a horror game in which you must escape a summoning ritual gone wrong; to a game that emulates the rituals of a person with obsessive compulsive disorder; to a relaxing zen game set in a Shinto temple.
With the VR submissions impressively numerous, though still small in comparison to the games submitted from the jam's 36,000 developers, despite no headset being commercially available yet, it's likely that 2017's Global Game Jam will see far more VR games being designed.
Thank you Valve for helping promote VR with having staff on location with HTC Vive. That was definitely the largest factor for our game jam site having such high percentage of VR games.