What you need to know
- Black Friday delivered the "biggest ever revenue week for VR" in the U.K., according to research firm GfK.
- Headset sales increased by 33% year-over-year, with both the Quest 2 and PSVR 2 selling in high numbers.
- You can still get the Quest 2 for $50 off, plus a $50 gift card
VR analysts learned two things from the holiday deals window: there's still plenty of consumer interest in buying VR hardware, and consumers will happily buy a last-gen headset over a new-and-improved one if it means saving money.
GamesIndustry.biz reported numbers from games analysis firm GfK that "this was the biggest ever revenue week for VR," with 33% more headsets sold and 17% higher revenue than in 2022.
This specifically referred to U.K. sales, which generated a total of £17 million, but it's fair to assume the same trends applied in other Western countries. On Amazon U.S., for instance, you can see that the Quest 2 has "over 100K sold last month" despite its advanced age. We can assume the total numbers across other retailers and nations are much higher.
Meanwhile, the brand-new Meta Quest 3 shows about 70K sold on Amazon in the last month across the 128GB and 512GB units.
The Quest 2's high sales came from its great Black Friday deal: $50 off the headset's price — making it half the price of the Quest 3 — and an additional $50 gift card with it. That deal is still available on Amazon if you're interested.
GI.biz writer Christopher Dring also tweeted that these unprecedented sales numbers came from "both" Meta Quest and PSVR 2 headset sales, showing that Sony's headset still shows some life despite its high price.
BothDecember 8, 2023
What with Pico's struggles and Meta's low Reality Labs earnings, plenty of industry experts have been quick to write VR off as a fading novelty. But it's clear that people are still interested in the technology; they just don't want to spend too much money on one.
We recently learned that the Quest 3 costs about $430 to make, meaning its $499 price isn't one that's inflated — or one that's likely to go on sale anytime soon. While VR superfans have bought it up and made it one of the top SteamVR headsets already, it's clear that most casual VR buyers don't think they need higher-end specs, preferring the popular Quest 2 that still gets all the latest Quest Store games and apps.
With these numbers in mind, it's fair to assume that the leaked Quest 3 Lite, with its alleged $199 price tag and 2024 release date, could end up just as popular due to sheer affordability.
