Throughout the previous few years, we've seen an array of news posts about how virtual reality was about to conserve the classic arcade. The idea goes that the VR indoor jungle gym equipment is too expensive for home users, therefore it creates an chance for operators to pony up the big dollars to purchase it and then make their money back by charging a match to play with it. Much Nolan Bushnell, the inventor of Pong, is attempting to hype the tech as the industry's savior. From the MIT Technology Review.
"While many high-end headsets were released last year that may bring virtual-reality experiences to your living space, adoption of this technology is still in its earliest days to get a lot of reasons--it's still bulky, expensive, and there isn't all that much to do as soon as you've got it on your face. Over two million headsets were shipped worldwide in 2016, according to an estimate from market researcher Canalys, yet this figure pales compared to the prevalence of, say, video game consoles (earnings of their 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 cans improve. In the meantime, though, a number of companies are betting that customers may be pleased to pay a much smaller sum to try out 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 standpoint VR is a terrible thing. Other than purchasing a brand new vehicle and driving it a time, I can not think of a way you could eliminate money quicker between what you pay and what you'll be able to get for it down the street.
Another limit for most operators is that while you might have the ability to provide a room for VR people to wander around in now, as fresh VR technology is introduced, we are likely to see the stage expanded from 100 square feet into the whole world. Rather than viewing just the matches in your headset, you will realize the true world with sport play overlayed. Children can go to the park and relive the knights of the round table or parking garages to take aliens. As the tech allows more real world places to be explored, it is going to make a cramped arcade seem fairly feeble in comparison.
VR is heading for mass market acceptance, but it is demand isn't being driven by gamers who want to pay big buck to play video games, but such as the BETAMAX that came before it, by individuals who want to watch porn in their houses.
Even when an operator can create just a bit of money for the upcoming few decades, after VR achieves critical mass, then it is going to crush whatever revenue stream that operators're dreaming of. Do not believe me? Just check out what is happening in China.
Last year, an eye popping 35,000 virtual reality arcades opened up in China. A year later 22,000 of these have closed.
This is an unbelievable failure rate over this short period of time 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 longer than Chinese startup arcades, but I doubt that most North American operators will fare far better with the technology in their match rooms and will only end up in debt at the end of the day.
The issue essentially boils down to customers not being prepared to pay a premium for the encounter. Tech In Asia, clarifies the problem perfectly in their own article, on that the Chinese VR boom and bust.

"Enterprising shop owners leaping into VR are finding it impossible to charge fees akin to cinemas or bowling alleys to get a VR experience. 1 VR arcade owner told iHeima that he saw eager queues when charging US$1.50 to get a 30-minute session, but everybody disappeared as it rose to US$5. From that sort of revenue it is impossible to cover the lease."
Even if the game was sold out daily, at $1.50 per half hour they are just earning $30 a day. Together with retail rents in North America running $1 -- $2 a square foot, there is no way to make the math work, even in the event that you assume that Americans will spend more to play with the games.
The actual world data flowing 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 whole world for a stage. Since the installations get more expensive, smaller and more portable, the virtual arcades will seem more costly, bulky and restricted.