Ahead of their launch, devices like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift were highly promoted and highly-anticipated. After all with huge names backing the technology, it does seem like virtual reality could indeed be the way of the future. Unfortunately it would seem that the hype around the technology and products might have died down somewhat.
According to a recent Steam survey, it shows that only 0.18% of their users own a HTC Vive, and 0.10% own the Oculus Rift. It has also been found that HTC Vive sales only grew by a fraction of 0.3% in July, while the Oculus Rift grew by 0.1% in August, suggesting that sales of either device appear to have flatlined.
Naturally this isn’t good news for those who are betting big on virtual reality, but given that both these devices don’t come cheap, and not to mention requiring owners to have a relatively powerful PC in order to run it, there are some barriers to entry. Also the amount of VR content that is readily available is still relatively small (but it is growing), which means that some customers are choosing to wait before diving in.
Of course Steam isn’t the end-all when it comes to consumer surveys, but it is still an interesting observation nonetheless. We do have at least one more contender coming up in the form of the PlayStation VR, and with millions of gamers already owning the PS4, perhaps adopting of the PlayStation VR could be better.
Filed in . Read more about HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Virtual Reality (VR).