Develop the VR yourself or commission an agency? Make-or-buy for companies

Developing the VR solution in-house or commissioning an agency? For companies, this is not just a cost issue; it is a classic make-or-buy decision. Among other things, project frequency, existing real-time 3D expertise, internal capabilities, time pressure, and the question of how much an XR application will change after the first release are crucial.

An external VR Agency for companies It is not automatically the best solution. Those who operate several XR products on a permanent basis and already have a strong Unity or Unreal team can run very well with in-house development in the long term. However, building their own team is often disproportionately expensive for individual projects, pilot applications, or technically specialized tasks.

Developing the VR yourself or commissioning an agency: the short answer

In many B2B projects, a hybrid model is therefore the most economical solution: A specialized agency takes on the design, prototyping, technical architecture, and initial implementation. The internal team is involved early and can take on defined parts of the further development later.

What does in-house development in VR actually mean?

VR development is not just about programming. For professional use, several disciplines are required depending on the project: real-time development using Unity or Unreal Engine, 3D production and optimization, UX and interaction design, technical art, animation, sound, testing on real hardware, and project management. In corporate applications, device management, backend connectivity, privacy protection, rollout, and support are often added.

A good Unity developer can handle many tasks, but they do not automatically replace a full XR team. Especially with visual quality, performance optimization, 3D pipelines, or unusual interactions, special topics quickly arise that are rarely needed internally.

This is where a key difference between classical software development and XR lies: the application must not only function technically; it must also be spatially understandable, run stably on the target device, and be operable by people who may have never previously worn a VR headset.

When is it worth developing VR in-house?

In-house development can be very useful if XR is not just a single project but a permanent part of the company’s own product or business strategy.

• There is a continuous roadmap: Several releases, modules, or applications ensure that an internal team is permanently overloaded.
• The necessary expertise already exists: Unity-, Unreal-, 3D- or real-time expertise does not have to be built up completely first.
• The application is closely linked to internal systems: With constant changes to proprietary interfaces, internal knowledge can be a major advantage.
• Short change cycles are crucial: An internal team can implement smaller adjustments directly without external briefing.
• XR becomes its own core competency: If immersive applications are a strategic component of the business model, building your own team can make sense in the long run.

The key factor is the workload. Building a specialized XR team that then only implements one or two projects per year is often economically difficult to justify.

When is a specialized VR agency more useful?

An agency is particularly interesting when a company wants to quickly access existing expertise and different specialists without having to maintain these competencies in-house on a permanent basis.

• First XR project: Technical misjudgments made during the concept phase can become costly later on.
• Clear deadline: At trade shows, product launches or events, the application must work on a fixed date.
• Unusual technical requirements: Hand tracking, mixed reality, multi-user, spatial mapping or complex real-time 3D scenes require experience from comparable projects.
• High visual quality: Real-time 3D optimization differs significantly from traditional CAD, film, or web production.
• Project-related needs: The company needs the expertise for a few months, but not as a permanent personnel structure.

Especially for the first project, it may be useful to first create a VR pilot project This not only allows testing of the technology; a good pilot also shows whether the use case is accepted internally and whether a larger rollout would be economically justified.

Comparing costs: Agency billing vs. salary is too short-sighted

When making a “make-or-buy” decision, the offer from an agency is often compared only to the salary of a developer. That is too short-sighted.

The actual in-house costs include salaries, recruitment, onboarding, hardware, software licenses, development tools, test headsets, training, and the time it takes for a team to master a new technology before it can be production-ready. At the same time, an agency incurs project management, concept design, and production costs that, with a long-term workload on board, do not recur in the same form for every project.

The crucial indicator is therefore not the hourly rate, but the Total costs over the life cycle of the application. You can find a separate overview of typical cost drivers in our article. How much does a virtual reality application cost?.

Hardware and platform selection are part of the development decision

An XR application is always developed for a specific use context. Therefore, the headset, input method, and deployment model influence the software architecture from the very beginning.

An application for a managed measurement stand has different requirements than a training that is rolled out at multiple company locations. Similarly, controller-based applications differ from solutions with hand tracking. Those who make these decisions late risk additional development and testing loops.

Our overview of VR headsets for business applications shows which criteria play a role in hardware selection. For controller-free interactions, we have also listed the most important points. Development of VR applications with hand tracking in summary.

Speed: The first prototype is often decisive

Especially with new XR ideas, it is only possible to assess to a limited extent on paper whether an interaction actually works. Size ratios, movement, readability, spatial orientation, and operating logic must be experienced in the headset.

An experienced agency can therefore often achieve a more reliable prototype more quickly because basic development components, production processes, and test hardware are already available. However, an internal team can make up for this advantage if it regularly implements XR projects and has built its own reusable systems.

Therefore, less should be asked in deciding: „Who programs more cheaply?“ The more meaningful question is: How quickly can we reach a point at which we can test the crucial assumptions of the project?

Retaining know-how within the company – without vendor lock-in

A common objection to external development is the fear of dependency. This concern is justified when processes, data, or technical decisions remain intentionally opaque.

We consider such a model to be wrong. At Design4real, a customer should not have to stay because no one understands the project except us. Project and production data are delivered in a structured manner to the agreed extent. Technical decisions can be documented and internal developers can be included early in the process if desired.

This is particularly important if the pilot is to be continued internally later on. It should be taken into account in the architecture from the outset which components can be maintained by the company itself in the long term.

The hybrid model: Often the best solution for companies

Between full outsourcing and a completely own XR team, there is a third option. In the hybrid model, tasks are deliberately divided up.

A typical workflow might look like this:

1. Design and technical feasibility: The agency and the internal team jointly define the target, platform, and architecture.
2. Prototyping: The agency develops an early functional state and reduces technical risks.
3. Production: Specialized tasks such as 3D, UX, interaction, or performance optimization are implemented externally, while internal developers contribute to interfaces or business logic.
4. Handover: Knowledge, data, and agreed development components are delivered in a structured manner.
5. Further development: The company handles recurring changes itself and only calls in external specialists when necessary.

This model combines external specialist expertise with internal know-how development. At the same time, it is possible to avoid having to permanently hire personnel for rarely needed competencies.

Which solution suits your company?

Five questions help to make an initial assessment:

1. How many XR projects do we expect in the next two to three years?
2. Do we already have employees with proven Unity, Unreal, or real-time 3D experience?
3. Do we need special features that our team hasn't implemented yet?
4. Is there a fixed deadline at which technical learning curves constitute a project risk?
5. Should the project be continuously developed internally after the first release?

If XR becomes a permanent part of your own product and a suitable team already exists, there is much to be said in favor of in-house development or a hybrid model. However, if it is a clearly defined project, a quick pilot, a trade show appearance, or a technically demanding individual application, a specialized agency is in many cases the more efficient solution.

How Design4Real supports companies

Since 2010, Design4real has been developing immersive applications for companies. We not only support the implementation process, but also help with the initial design phase., Which development approach is appropriate for a project. This includes concept development, prototyping, Unity and Unreal development, 3D production, hardware testing, interaction design, and the subsequent rollout.

Data protection and operational aspects should also be taken into account during the concept phase. An overview can be found here. Virtual Reality and Data Privacy.

You do not yet need to decide whether your project should be developed entirely externally, internally, or hybridly. We can first assess the requirements, existing competencies, and project scope together and derive a meaningful model from this.

FAQ: Develop VR in-house or hire an agency?

Learn more about our VR development for businesses or directly arrange an informal conversation.