The firm specializing in market analysis of video gamesNewzoo, carried out a study focusing specifically on the virtual reality, and its predictions are positive. In 2024, revenues generated by this market are expected to increase by 44% compared to 2019.
Half-hearted beginnings
When it was launched on the market in the early 2010s, virtual reality seemed destined for a bright future and meteoric growth. In fact, it was quite different. The adoption of this technology has indeed been slower than expected, and it seems that one of its uses currently surpasses all the rest, that of gaming.
” Although the market ultimately did not take off as many had anticipated, movements in big tech, the metaverse trend and behavioral changes among young consumers are giving virtual reality a second wind and especially in video games “, explains Newzoo in his report.
Thus, the company predicts that the virtual reality market will reach $1.8 billion in 2022, with 27.7 million headsets in use worldwide. This upward trend should continue over the next two years: the turnover from virtual reality games could reach 3.2 billion dollars by 2024, with no less than 46 million headsets in service.
From 2019 to 2024, the increase in revenue from virtual reality video games is constant. Infographics: Newzoo
A trend that can be explained by several factors
Newzoo explains its predictions by different factors. Like the video game sector in its entirety, virtual reality has greatly benefited from the containment measures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic: stuck at home, people have explored other ways to occupy themselves. The democratization of the helmet Meta Quest 2 has also contributed to deploying virtual reality on a larger scale and above all, at an affordable price.
For the future trend, Newzoo believes that the technology will be increasingly adopted as major releases are expected, including a headset developed by Sony for PlayStation 5 players. Exclusive games will therefore see the light of day, and the firm analysis further explains that the emergence of companies like Pico, owned by ByteDanceshould participate in the democratization of the sector.
Overall, standalone headsets, which don’t need to be plugged into consoles or PCs, and cloud streaming are making gaming more accessible, as is the ever-increasing VR support of the from the most popular game engines.
Like the turnover, the number of virtual reality headsets in the world is growing steadily. Infographics: Newzoo
Soon more democratized non-gaming uses?
Despite an improvement, virtual reality is not expected to become as large a segment of the video game market as consoles or PCs. It is nevertheless interesting to observe that unlike the whole industryvirtual reality saw positive growth in 2022, demonstrating its growing appeal to gamers.
The development of the metaverse should also participate in democratizing virtual reality beyond the field of video games, by allowing users to participate in events or to travel virtually, for example.
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