VR gaming on the rise in Hyderabad

The demand has been so much that several new dedicated gaming cafes have come up in Hyderabad that cater primarily to people wanting to experience VR games

Hyderabad: There was once a time in the 1990’s when kids were hooked to Super Mario Bros and the ability to play games on a screen was the most astonishing part of it.

That seems to so long ago. Like in every aspect of life, technology and advancements redefined gaming too, ushered in new concepts and newer ways of playing them.

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Now with virtual reality (VR) gaming picking up in the city, the experience is as immersive as it could get. Says Indra, Creative Director at Rebellion eSports café in Madhapur, “the number of people wanting to try VR games has definitely increased in recent times.”

The demand has been so much that several new dedicated gaming cafes have come up in the city that cater primarily to people wanting to experience VR games. Even gaming arenas in malls have a separate VR experience space.

VR Gaming Café in Kondapur is one of the first ones to open its doors. “We started in 2019 and at that time we were the only ones exclusively offering VR games in the city. Soon Covid happened and we had to temporarily shut down operations. But in 2022 when we reopened, we were met with great response,” says VR Gaming Café manager K. Lokesh.

According to him the reason behind this boom is because VR gaming is a relatively new concept that allows people to experience a whole different world from right where they are. “We initially started with 40 to 50 games, now we have around 100 games. Action, adventure, cricket-based; there are different games people can choose from,” he adds.

Rebellion eSports café also has a dedicated VR lounge, apart from their eSports and gaming consoles.

It costs anywhere from around Rs. 600 to Rs. 1000 in the city to play these games for a duration of one hour. Establishments also let customers switch between games in that time.