According to one insurance company in the UK, there was a 31 per cent rise in home content claims in connection to VR accidents in 2021.
As reported by The Guardian (via PC Gamer), insurance company Aviva has said that VR-related insurance claims rose by 31 per cent in 2021. Overall, VR-related claims have increased by 68 per cent since 2016.
Though these statistics only apply to 2021, Aviva has confirmed that it has already received insurance claims from people in 2022 who received VR consoles over Christmas.
Aviva added that the average claim was for around £650, and listed several examples of damage incurred by VR play. One involved a player throwing his controller at a TV when a zombie jumped at him in a game, whereas one child destroyed “two designer figurines” when swiping at something in-game. In general, there were multiple reports of cracked TV screens where VR was to blame.
“As new games and gadgets become popular, we often see this playing through in the claims made by our customers,” said Kelly Whittington, who is Aviva’s UK property claims director. Whittington also said that “In the past we’ve seen similar trends involving consoles with handsets, fitness games and even the likes of rogue fidget spinners.”
“These devices can be a great source of fun, but we’d encourage people to be mindful of their surroundings,” added Whittington.
As The Guardian shares, one subreddit – called VR to ER – includes plenty of footage of these VR accidents. A glance through the subreddit reveals people who have cut their hands, uppercut ceiling fans, blindly sucker punched children, and broken their controllers.
In other gaming news, Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007 may have a remaster announced “in the next few weeks”, according to a reliable insider with knowledge of the project.
