The use of Virtual Reality to play video games seems to have reached a new all-time high. This is according to a report suggesting an increase in users of almost four times since last month. These figures come from a survey, and if you look at the details and think that there may be some variation, you will see that there is some deviation, but it also indicates a constant trend of more and more people playing games in Virtual Reality.
Part of this success is that very affordable systems have been around for several years. As early adopters help fix bugs and introduce new players to the experience, VR may grow to become a viable alternative, though by its nature it is destined to be a low priority.
Virtual Reality is no longer so minority
The latest results from Steam's hardware and software survey, which comes out every month, have recently been released. The data includes a list of Virtual Reality headsets with SteamVR and shows the percentage of computers that are connected to Steam while using a headset.
What stands out is an increase in the use of VR headsets, going from an average of 1,87% to 6,67% of Steam players using a VR headset in July. Taken at face value, VR gaming has just taken a monumental step forward in terms of user base. But it could well be interpreted that users who have such helmets have been able to use them more comfortably when starting the summer holidays, which is a possibility.
As UploadVR recently pointed out, there may be some issues with the numbers. A similar increase occurred in May, before falling back to around 2% in June. Since the survey is a random sample, it will inevitably vary over time, and the grand average over several months is a more useful figure. A fourfold increase in a month is highly unlikely; but a general increase is the most logical.
The helmet quest 2 de Meta led the pack with a 50% share in July. Part of this is because it's the cheapest and Meta subsidizes the cost. Even with the recent price increase, still the most affordable VR headset in widespread use. Valve's Index is second with 15%.
The general rise of VR systems is not unexpected and follows the pattern of the adoption of new technologies, especially in games. It is to be expected that it will continue to grow, that there are more and more ambitious games for this style of game, but it is inevitable that there will be a maximum that it can reach for reasons that the same people who buy a PC will not buy a helmet of Augmented Reality for budget, space or physical mobility issues. At least it is enough for a small Spanish studio to decide to make a alternative to Tabletop Simulator.
Source: Digital Trends
