Throughout the previous couple of years, we have seen a plethora of news posts about the way virtual reality was about to save the timeless arcade. The theory goes that the VR gear is too expensive for home users, therefore it creates an opportunity for operators to pony up the big dollars to purchase it and then make their money back by charging per game to play with it. Even Nolan Bushnell, the inventor of Pong, is trying to hype the technology since the industry's savior. From the MIT Technology Review.
"While several high-end headsets were released last year which can bring virtual-reality experiences to your living room, adoption of this technology remains in its earliest days to get a bunch of reasons--it is still bulky, pricey, and there isn't all that much to do once you've got it on your face. Over two million headsets were sent worldwide in 2016, according to an estimate from market researcher Canalys, but this figure pales compared to the popularity of, say, video game consoles (sales of the leading one, Sony's PS4, topped six million throughout the 2016 holiday season alone). Consumer virtual reality will likely catch on as costs come down and headsets improve. In the meantime, however, a number of businesses are betting that consumers could possibly be happy to cover a much smaller amount to try the technology with their friends at, say, an arcade, theme park, or bowling alley."
It is tempting to dive into this snare, but in the operator's perspective VR is a terrible deal. Other than buying a brand-new car and driving it a time, I can not think about a way that you could lose money faster between what you pay and what you will have the ability to get down the road.
Another limit for most operators is that while you might have the ability to provide a room for VR individuals to wander around in now, as fresh VR tech is introduced, we're going to find the stage expanded from 100 square feet into the entire world. Rather than viewing just the games in your headset, you will realize the true world with sport play overlayed. As the technology allows more real world areas to be researched, it is going to make a cramped arcade look pretty lame in comparison.
VR is already heading for mass market acceptance, but it is demand isn't being pushed by players who want to pay big buck to soft play equipment video games, but like the BETAMAX that came before it, by individuals who wish to watch pornography in their homes.
Even when an operator can create a bit of money to the next few decades, after VR achieves critical mass, then it is going to crush whatever revenue stream that operators're dreaming of. Don't believe me? Just check out what is happening in China.
A year later 22,000 of these have closed.
That is an incredible failure rate over this brief time period and one which should serve as a sharp warning to anyone considering investing in the VR games. Perhaps Dave and Busters is able to take losses over the matches more than Chinese startup arcades, but I doubt most North American operators are going to fare much better using the tech in their match rooms and will just end up in debt in the close of the day.
The issue essentially boils down to consumers not being prepared to pay a premium to the experience. Tech In Asia, describes the problem perfectly in their article, on that the Chinese VR boom and bust.

"Enterprising shop owners jumped into VR are finding it impossible to charge fees akin to cinemas or bowling alleys for a VR experience. One VR arcade owner told iHeima that he saw eager queues when charging US$1.50 for a 30-minute session, but everybody disappeared when it rose to US$5. From that sort of revenue it's impossible to cover the rent."
Even if the match was sold out all day, at $1.50 a half hour they are just earning $30 a day.
The actual world information streaming in from China must function as a canary in the quarter mines of North America. Operators who invest considerable amounts of money on fancy VR setups will probably find their small VR rooms being substituted by the entire world as a stage. Since the setups get more expensive, smaller and more portable, the digital arcades will seem more costly, bulky and restricted.