Bumper Christmas sales of over 700,000 units have pushed Sony’s PlayStation VR ahead of the competition to become the market leader. However, Oculus Go, the wireless portable device, also had strong sales of 555,000 units, with Oculus Rift moving 160,000 units and Vive just behind with 130,000.
This means annual VR revenues topped $3.6 billion, beating the forecast of $3.3 billion. SuperData are predicting Oculus’ new headset, Quest, will have strong sales in 2019 due to “high consumer interest” but at $399 it’s double the price of PSVR and that may put some consumers off.
When combining AR, VR and other ‘experiences’, Superdata expect revenues to top $34.1 billion by 2022, an increase of 442% compared to last year. By then we should have the PlayStation 5 and PSVR 2.0, but will they help Sony keep the lead?
Source: Venturebeat
kjkg
It’s absolutely fantastic to see the tech doing so well. I took a wee break from the VR and recently just got back into it. It’s mind boggling at times and if done right, makes for some of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
I also manned up and played RE7 in VR. Just got out the main house so making slow progress but it’s unbelievable how terrifying the game is when you add the VR element in. It really freaks you out being followed!
mdcw9
Couldn’t agree more mate. Super excited about its future.
Really excited for the Quest!
camdaz
It’s great news that PSVR and the other headsets are doing well. I wonder if Microsoft is regretting cancelling their VR headset (due to lack of interest in the tech). That is if the rumoured cancellation of the rumoured headset is more than just a rumour!
JR.
I’m definitely onboard for a PSVR 2. The only complaint I have about the PSVR is the resolution – if they can improve on this, it will be perfect.
Stefan L
Resolution and widening the field of view is part of it, but PSVR as a platform needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The tracking in the headset is too prone to drifting at the moment, and tracking big glowing lights is antiquated and not terribly precise. Similarly, the controller needs to be rethought. DualShock 4 is fine for some things, but Move is too limited without an analogue stick and has an unintuitive button layout outside of the trigger and Move button.
If PSVR 2 is just higher resolution, Sony will have blown it.
JR.
I love PSVR – there are a few niggles (a joystick on the move controller would be ideal, good point) but the main issue for me is the resolution. I can live with limited field of view and less than perfect controls, but the resolution is something that really takes away from my enjoyment of the technology (in it’s current iteration). I think the cartoony, colourful games fair better overall (shout out to Dino Frontier – which is my fave so far) but the ‘realistic’ looking games suffer massively with the immersive factor. It’s like trying to enjoy a movie at the pictures with a burlap sack on your head. If they could boost the resolution somehow, i’d feel compelled to use it a whole lot more than I do now.