Deadpool Finally Gets Another Game, But With a Huge Asterisk Attached

Deadpool VR is the latest in a long line of upcoming Marvel games that comic book fans can look forward to. One of the biggest surprises to come out of Geoff Keighley’s recent Summer Game Fest showcase, Deadpool VR brings Marvel’s famous foul-mouthed antihero back out on the gaming market in a very unique way. The arrival of this game came with a very humorous reveal, with Geoff Keighley reading a snarky letter on stage from Deadpool that even went as far as to make fun of the lack of a trailer for the long-gestating Hollow Knight: Silksong.

On the surface, the return of Deadpool in the form of a video game is a very exciting prospect, especially given the character’s rise in popularity since his first film in 2016. After all, while Deadpool has made several appearances across Marvel’s crossover video games, it’s been well over a decade since he’s received a starring role in a video game all his own. Even so, while a new Deadpool video game is definitely great news for hardcore Marvel fans, the arrival of Deadpool VR feels like a double-edged sword for the brand’s return to the medium.

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Deadpool VR’s Release Is A Double-Edged Sword

Deadpool VR Brings The Character Back For His First Game In 12 Years

In one breath, Deadpool VR is an exciting prospect of a game, as it’s the first proper Deadpool game to be released in 12 years. The Merc with a Mouth’s last major game was released back in 2013, and while it received a re-release on eighth-generation platforms in 2015, this version was delisted from storefronts despite the rousing success of the trilogy of films that followed its release. Thus, given that Deadpool’s only other starring vehicle in the form of a video game is harder to find, it’s good to see Marvel’s foul-mouthed antihero finally receive a new video game.

What’s more, the fact that the game will be playable in virtual reality means that players will have the opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of Deadpool. Considering that Deadpool media is known for its kinetic, intense, and bloody action, virtual reality will give Marvel fans the closest experience to being part of the chaotic nature of the Deadpool franchise. This title also no doubt retains Deadpool’s penchant for humor, as Neil Patrick Harris is set to play the Merc with a Mouth, and the initial trailer already showed the character making notable jokes around the game’s quality in comparison to Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles on the PlayStation.

Deadpool VR May Be Limited By Its Format

On the other hand, Deadpool VR‘s overall commercial appeal and success may be held back by the fact that it is a VR-exclusive title. While VR has become a much more consumer-friendly product over the last decade, adoption rates of virtual reality headsets have not grown meaningfully, to the point where the technology is still fairly niche in the video game space. Even though fans finally have a new Deadpool game, many of them will probably not get the chance to play this game because of its exclusivity to virtual reality.

Deadpool VR‘s chances of breaking out and helping to grow virtual reality’s standing in gaming may also be hurt by the fact that this title is exclusive to only one headset. Currently, the game will only be available on the Oculus Meta Quest headset, which is understandable, given that Oculus Studios is publishing the game and would likely use it to help promote the company’s technology. That said, it feels like virtual reality gaming is not big enough yet to justify having hardware-exclusive titles, and a game based on a character as popular as Deadpool feels like it would work best if released on multiple headsets.

Even though fans finally have a new Deadpool game, many of them will probably not get the chance to play this game because of its exclusivity to virtual reality.

Deadpool VR Could Be Hard For Players To Get Their Land Legs With

Another minor element that may hurt Deadpool VR‘s commercial prospects is the potential for the game to make many players sick. Naturally, virtual reality gaming is not easy for many players to adjust to and can cause sickness for those who have not gotten their land legs inside a VR headset. With the fact that the action in Deadpool media is known for being so fast-paced, kinetic, and violent, a virtual reality Deadpool game may be hard for some players to stomach (literally) compared to a standard, flat-mode game.

Deadpool VR is definitely an exciting game in several ways, especially given that the character has not received his own video game since before his major commercial breakout with the first entry in the film trilogy in 2016. Even so, the game’s standing as a VR-mandatory title exclusively available on only one virtual reality headset seems to limit its commercial appeal in several ways. Here’s hoping Deadpool VR is only one Deadpool project in development, and another game follows closely behind that lets players control the Merc with a Mouth with a standard controller.