Seeking a virtual reality breakthrough

Young Chinese play a first-person shooter game at a virtual reality experience center in Beijing. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

Tan Shuhong is the founder of the company with 15 employees, which released the game The 18th Floor in October. On his desktop stand five trophies for the game, all different industry awards.

"My first encounter with VR was a 'wow' experience," says Tan, recalling his first try of several virtual reality demos on an Oculus headset in 2015.

"I see it as the future of games. It will totally change the way people feel," says Tan, who used to design games on smartphones before he founded the company with some angel investment in April.

"I'm so excited to step into the VR gaming industry when it's still in the cradle."

In China, 2016 is regarded as the beginning year of virtual reality by industry insiders. The technology, which creates a lifelike environment to immerse users in virtual worlds, ripened as big companies released various consumer-level VR products in the same year.

To name some of the most popular ones - HTC Vive from a Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer, Oculus Rift from Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook), and PlayStation VR from Sony.