Mike Bithell: VR’s saturation means indie devs should return to mobile

The quickly saturating market for virtual reality games has resulted in new opportunities for developers to capture an audience on mobile.

That’s the suggestion from Thomas Was Alone and Volume creator Mike Bithell, who told PocketGamer.biz that the swelling interest in building for platforms such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR echoed the resurgence in indie hits on the PC five years ago.

“I love VR, and I’m making a couple of VR games ­– but so’s everyone else,” he explained.

“So there’s this weird drought right now of more traditional indie games, especially on mobile.

“I look at that and I think: ‘Now’s the perfect time for someone to make a mobile game.’

“Being away from where the herd is has always worked. You can totally map that 2011 surge in PC indie games at the exact point triple-A publishers all decided PC was dead.”

Bithell himself hinted that he is considering building for mobile, having ported Thomas Was Alone to iOS and Android in 2012 – but is yet to decide on a project.

“I am making mobile stuff,” he revealed.

“I am playing with ideas, but most of them will probably never see the light of day. Being okay with deleting an idea is an important skill.”