Towards the end of 2017, Forbes reported that virtual reality headset sales finally reached one million in a single quarter. Of course, this was great news for VR developers as well as customers interested in this new generation of tech, as virtual reality has been attempting to enter the mainstream market for years now.
This sudden uptake in sales came after the release of Sony’s PlayStation VR headset, which sold over 490,000 units in Q3 2017. With half the sales, Facebook’s Oculus Rift came in second with 210,000 shipments in the same time frame, followed by the HTC Vive which sold 160,000 units. Together, these three headsets represented 86% of the VR market at that time, with the remaining headsets being smartphone powered devices like Samsung’s Gear VR and the Daydream by Google.
Is VR Just for Console Gamers?
One big player that these statistics had to leave out is Microsoft, which launched the Windows Mixed Reality (MR) in late 2017. This tech combines virtual reality with its sister tech-augmented reality (AR) to create an entirely new experience for users. Though we ourselves haven’t tried MR, TechRadar suggests that it’s meant to be more immersive than regular VR as you can interact with the in-headset world using your Xbox One controller. That said, you can’t actually use the headset to play Xbox One games, which is odd, to say the least, because gamers are by far virtual reality’s biggest audience.
This is proved by the fact PS VR continues to be the most successful headset on the market, so gamers can play new releases like Batman Arkham: VR, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Superhot. Earlier in August 2018, Sony announced that over three million units had been sold, which has encouraged the company to increase the number of VR titles by 80% to 280 by the end of the year.
VR In The World of Modern Online Gaming
Meanwhile, other sectors of the gaming industry are embracing VR tech just as thoroughly, which will surely help virtual reality stick in pop culture rather than it being just a fad. For example, smartphone games developers are creating more VR friendly titles that can be experienced in conjunction with Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear and plenty of other headsets. One of Google Play Store’s top VR apps VR X-Racer – Aero Racing Games has been downloaded over a million times, while other titles such as Hidden Temple VR Adventure and VR Noir are equally as popular.
Arguably one of the fastest growing VR markets in all gaming industries, though, is iGaming, which encompasses the world of online casinos, online sportsbooks and even online bingo. This sector has always been incredibly successful and has continued to adopt new technologies to stay ahead of the game. So, it was no surprise when live casinos and even platforms dedicated entirely to VR table games began to pop up on the internet. William Hill live casino alone is home to over a dozen games including live roulette, live blackjack and live dragon tiger. These games livestream a trained croupier to players around the world, onto desktops, smartphones and, of course, into VR headsets to create a more immersive, realistic casino experience.
So, with so many sectors adopting VR tech and even creating their own headsets, has virtual reality finally gone mainstream? Well, in the gaming community, we’d have to say yes – at least for now. As for the rest of pop culture, there’s still much more to be done to VR to make it as successful as, say, tablets and smartphones. Hopefully, big companies will continue to improve the VR products they come out with so that everyone can experience the world of VR.