Mark Zuckerberg Claims That Oculus Quest 2 Is “On Monitor To Be The First Mainstream VR Headset”
The development of VR games will soon be financially viable for most developers – at least according to Mark Zuckerberg.
We’ve only been in a month and 2021 is already turning into a really weird year for games. The industry continues to grow exponentially during the ongoing global pandemic, GameStop’s stock prices rise as Redditors go to war with hedge fund managers, and VR game development will soon become financially viable for most developers, as Mark may be saying at least his Zuckerberg.
Founded in 2012 and bought by Facebook in 2014, Oculus has always been at the forefront of virtual reality technology and hardware. Acting as a trendsetter in a niche market, however, has its disadvantages. For years, Oculus and competing organizations struggled to attract audiences with prohibitively expensive headsets and premium PCs standing between them and average gamers. While the concept of virtual reality has an almost universal appeal, for many it was out of the question of owning one … until now.
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More importantly, the Quest 2 hit the market for $ 299, making it one of the most affordable new VR products out there. Before that, probably the most accessible VR option for most gamers was likely the PSVR device, which debuted for $ 400 in 2016. The PSVR has been moderately successful, but according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the Quest 2 is now on track to really disrupt the market.
During Facebook’s fourth quarter 2020 earnings call, Zuckerberg made it his business to discuss the future of the product, something he had almost always downplayed before. He stated the Quest 2 was “on track to be the first mainstream virtual reality headset”. This statistic is based on estimates that Oculus has shipped around one million units.
via: techcentral.co.za
“I think this quarter’s results show that this future is here,” continued the Facebook CEO. “More than 60 Oculus developers are generating millions of dollars in revenue, and that’s more than twice as much as a few months ago. This statistic should be especially encouraging for VR enthusiasts as the increased profitability of VR titles should further encourage developers to explore the medium, which in turn leads to more games and hopefully an expanded audience. For years, Oculus – and VR games as a whole – have had little to show when it comes to killer apps. One-off experiments and short tech demos dominated the VR game scene, and many gamers had simply resigned themselves to using their fancy devices as Beat Saber machines. Hopefully this increase in sales will lead to a significant shift in that perception.
It’s hard to see why VR games have increased so much lately, but we’d venture to guess that the continued global lockdown has something to do with it. Additionally, computer technology has advanced dramatically since Oculus debuted nearly ten years ago. With VR-compatible gaming rigs now priced well below a thousand dollars, more curious gamers are ready to find the cash to try them out. We don’t know if this trend will continue throughout the year, but we’re overjoyed to see that, for now at least, those who have ventured into VR development are getting a significant return on their investment .
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