Oculus founder Palmer Luckey thinks 30 frames per second is 'a failure'

Developers offer plenty of reasons for 30 frames per second in blockbuster games, but Palmer Luckey isn't having a bar of it. According to the Oculus Rift founder not only is it inexcusable in virtual reality, but even consoles and onscreen PC games shouldn't be let off the hook.

“For VR you need much higher frame rate than you need on a typical screen,” Luckey told LinusTechTips . “60 frames per second is definitely enough. You see huge improvements up to 90 and 120hz, and even beyond that you can see small improvements."

While 60 frames per second is sufficient, Luckey thinks much higher frame rates will become the norm for VR gaming. "Virtual reality is going to need much higher frame rates than consoles," he said. "Although even for consoles or traditional PC games I don't think 30 frames per second is smart. It's not a good artistic decision, it's a failure.”

“I think that you see diminishing returns between 90 and 120 hz, so In the foreseeable VR is going to end up somewhere in that range.”

Oculus's Brendan Iribe made similar comments on resolution last year, with the suggestion that higher visual fidelity will offset motion sickness.“There are a lot of challenges, like resolution, it's a big one on the current dev kit. You can't imagine what it's going to look like when it's 4K, and it's not far away. It's not now, but it's coming,” he said .

We spoke to Naughty Dog co-founder Nate Mitchell last week at E3. He's recently joined Oculus and has some interesting things to say about the company's renewed focus on VR content.

Check out the Palmer Luckey interview below:

Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.

Latest in Gaming Industry
Former Treyarch studio co-head and Black Ops 3 director is heading up a new first-party PlayStation studio
Discord Social SDK
Your Discord friends list may soon appear directly in the games you play
Aloy - Horizon
'I feel worried about this art form:' Unsurprisingly, the real Aloy from Horizon isn't a fan of AI Aloy
Geralt, two swords on his back, in the wilderness
2011 was an amazing comeback year for PC gaming
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Possibility Space concept art.
Possibility Space owners sue NetEase for $900 million over allegations it spread 'false and defamatory rumors' of fraud at the studio that ultimately forced it to close
Latest in News
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'
Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts - Grizzbolt with a minigun
'It was a very depressing day': Palworld community manager reveals studio's reaction to Nintendo lawsuit
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Ark: Lost Colony teaser still.
Ark 2 is still on: The next Ark expansion 'leads into the events of Ark 2,' says Studio Wildcard