2018 was an overall goof year for VR gaming in general. The Virtual Reality technology has become quite the standard for some gamers and game companies. The best proof of this fact comes when you factor in the growth in the user base of VR, especially in Steam. The PC Gaming platform has recently been found to have doubled its amount of Virtual Reality users across the year.
The Greatest Year for VR in Steam
Steam conducted a hardware and software survey in December, 2018. The results showed that only Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality saw their user base increase during the month, both up marginally by 0.01%.
While these numbers might be a bit discouraging for a few VR enthusiasts, UploadVR has stated that the growth is actually bigger than expected. The website claims that PC VR has almost doubled on Steam in 2018 with 0.8% of Steam users now having a VR headset. Sadly, this still means that VR reach has been quite limited.
Oculus Rift’s user base grew by 85% in 2018, while HTC Vive was up by 65%. The rise in sales can be explained by the fact that the HTC Vive had a $100 USD Price cut back in March. As such, it’s easy to say that Virtual Reality has at least reached a niche audience.
However, the undeniable truth is that Virtual Reality has not yet been completely accepted by mainstream media. Whether it’s because the technology is a bit too expensive for the consumer or the specs required to run it; Virtual Reality will take a bit more to catch on.
However, a lot of game companies have still shown interest in VR. Sony’s PlayStation VR headset and the support it’s been getting is a great proof of that. There’s also the fact that Slightly Mad Studios has announced a console with VR as one of its primary focuses.
What do you think about VR in video games? Do you think it will continue growing? Are you going to purchase a VR headset this year? Let us know your thoughts on the VGR forums.