Yesterday saw the inaugural launch of VR World Congress. Billed as "a gathering of over 600 buyers, sellers and developers from VR and its surrounding industries from across the globe'", VR World Congress isn't actually a new event but rather an evolution of the already hugely successful South West VR as it grows in size and continues to gain international recognition.
This years expo featured attendees from all the key players in VR hardware including; HTC, Samsung, Sony, and Oculus, as well as AMD, CryEnginge, Unity and many leading VR developers from the UK and around the world.
As a native Bristolian I was excited to see the South West - which is so often over looked in favour of more traditional gaming regions of the UK such as London, Guildford and Brighton - getting some national and international exposure given the huge amount of indie developers and technology companies based in the city.
While the interior of the Marriott conference rooms seemed dated in comparison to some of the larger dedicated convention centres that host the likes of GDC and Gamescom the venue was well suited to an event in its first full year, providing ample space for developers at an affordable price (small booths start at just £500 / $700).
With such a varied mix of VR industry members gathered in one location, a wealth of guest speakers, as well as both national and international media attention I would highly recommend the event for anyone looking to demo their VR title, forge new b2b relations or merely find out about the latest VR hardware and engine support.
This years event sold out over a week in advance, and with the rise of VR over the next few years I can only see the event growing.
Article by Jonathan Higgins, images courtesy VR World Congress / Tom Sparey
