The platform paradox for an indie VR developer

As I'm sure you know, indie game development is difficult.

The smaller and fragmented install base makes indie VR development even worse. Unfortunately, a one person team is almost forced to choose a single platform and stick with it. Here's why:

All of the VR systems are different in key ways that make it impossible for a single developer to port to all systems. There are completely different control schemes between the Oculus Touch, the Vive wands (and tracker pucks), and something like the PlayStation Move controllers.

On-top of the difficulty, you cannot include the platform specific APIs and DLLs of one platform on another. Meaning you need to have separate projects for each platform. That would be made easier if you could hire a programmer to deal with this task, but the cost of a full-time programmer would cost more than you would make on any specific platform. Making it a null gain.

So, that's out.
Ok, let's choose a platform and stick with it then.

PlayStation VR has the most devices in the hands of customers, but development is difficult, and getting published on the platform even more so. You need someone working full time just to keep up with the requirements and red tape put in place by Sony. Paying a full time employee is out of the question for a small indie team, and you can't guarantee that you will even be able to sell on the PlayStation store in the end.

How about Steam and the HTC Vive? Well, to be honest, I just don't really like the Vive. The wand controllers are limiting, the setup isn't ideal for my work-space, and steam is already flooded with shitty indie VR titles. The curation is pretty much non-existent.

So, that leaves us with Oculus. Though it's my favorite VR platform to work on, and it's store is well curated. It's assumed to have the least amount of users. BUT, if it's just me working on it, I can accomplish what I need to do, and keep all of the profits to myself (my company).

Another option is to make it work both on the Rift and as a regular "flat" game to sell on steam. It is a bit more work, but doable. It requires some clever design choices, yet will limit game-play possibilities all around.

To be honest, it's not really about the money at this point. I'm just driven to create something that I can be proud of. I'll run a modest Kickstarter campaign, hopefully get enough to keep me fed during development, and then hopefully make enough from sales to do the same while coming up with the next thing.

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