Ever because the unique Oculus Quest launched, Meta has largely been alone within the standalone VR headset market. Sure, rivals like Pico and HTC have been making standalone headsets for almost so long as Meta, however the firm’s voracious want to be the chief within the area has confirmed to be a profitable technique.As a consequence, the Oculus Quest 2 is essentially the most profitable VR headset ever by a big margin (opens in new tab). While we do not have full gross sales information factors for what number of headsets Meta offered in 2022 but, it appears to be like like the corporate might have pushed over the 20 million offered line; a triumph for the VR market as a complete and a illustration of what is to come back.With that in thoughts, Meta is going through extra competitors in 2023 than it ever has earlier than. HTC is launching its first severe Quest competitor within the U.S. subsequent month and, proper alongside it, Sony’s PS VR2 (opens in new tab) goes to aim to pigeonhole the premium VR phase. The risk of a U.S. Pico 4 (opens in new tab) launch remains to be anybody’s greatest guess however, even with out that, Meta may nonetheless see Apple bounce within the sport later this yr earlier than the Meta Quest 3 (opens in new tab) debuts.Will they nonetheless win? With the utmost certainty, sure.2022 was nonetheless a brilliant profitable yr(Image credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)While we’re nonetheless ready for Meta’s annual monetary report for FY2022, different analyst companies have already begun so as to add up the numbers and generate stories on what number of Quest headsets Meta offered all year long. The consequence? According to NPD group, VR headsets had been down 2.2% year-over-year in comparison with 2021.Some shops like CNBC (opens in new tab) instantly jumped on this information to say the loss of life of the Metaverse. This is a typical tactic by outstanding information shops that usually do not know what they’re speaking about concerning VR.CNBC’s journalism on this specific topic was embarrassingly unhealthy, solely made worse by the variety of shops that repeatedly scooped up the story and parroted the identical mantra. The downside is that the information present a really completely different story.In a yr when hundreds of individuals misplaced their jobs, the best-selling VR headset was $100 costlier than the earlier yr.Halfway via the yr, Meta dropped the Facebook account requirement and elevated the worth of the Quest 2 (opens in new tab) by $100. As a rule of thumb, this is not one thing that ever occurs in client electronics. The value of merchandise goes down over time, not up.Despite this, Meta made solely 2.2% much less in 2022 than it did in 2021. It does not take a genius to grasp that it is a win for the trade, not a web loss. That’s all in a yr when hundreds of individuals misplaced their jobs, but, the best-selling VR headset was $100 costlier than the earlier yr.The momentum is evident. People need to play VR video games they usually’re largely selecting Meta over everybody else.Not all competitors is identical(Image credit score: HTC)Meta’s distinctive place is one that can proceed over the following yr for a number of causes. First off, is the worth. The solely firm that may compete on the identical value is Pico, an organization owned by ByteDance of TikTok fame.Michael Hicks and I interviewed Leland Hedges, General Manager, EMEA at Pico again in December. While the interview was filled with fascinating tidbits, one specific truth stood out to me: Pico’s greatest market proper now’s Germany, a rustic that banned the sale of Oculus headsets years in the past due to its ties to Facebook.The Pico 4 is the one main standalone VR headset that is truly inexpensive. HTC’s Vive Focus 3 is an unbelievable product however prices €1,000 Euros greater than the Pico 4, making the Pico 4 an apparent alternative for customers.Pico’s greatest market proper now’s Germany, a rustic that banned the sale of Oculus headsets years in the past due to its ties to Facebook.But Pico cannot (and will not) inform us when it will try a U.S. launch. No one on the firm will say it out loud however to me, the reason being extremely apparent. Pico is owned by ByteDance, the identical Chinese firm that owns TikTok and has confronted elevated scrutiny (opens in new tab) from American and European governments through the years.After all, nobody needs to be Huawei’d (opens in new tab) and see their investments depleted when merchandise are banned from a rustic.So what about HTC? The Vive XR Elite (opens in new tab) is an extremely promising headset that appears to repair all the issues of the Meta Quest Pro (opens in new tab) whereas nonetheless coming in a whole lot of {dollars} cheaper.It’s additionally getting an precise client U.S. launch for the primary time ever for a Vive standalone headset, one thing that would catapult the corporate to a stage of success within the U.S. it hasn’t seen because the unique Vive.The downside is the worth. At $1,099 it is greater than double the price of the costliest Quest 2, and nearly definitely the identical quantity because the upcoming Quest 3 which is rumored to launch beginning at $400 this October. HTC’s try right here is unbelievable and it appears to be like like a wide ranging headset, however there is not any denying that value will solely turn out to be extra necessary this yr as corporations are more and more laying folks off (opens in new tab).(Image credit score: Pico)The Vive XR Elite appears to be like to repair all the issues of the Quest Pro, nevertheless it’s nonetheless twice as costly because the Quest 2.So how about Sony? The PS VR2 lands in precisely one month on February 22 and it is launching alongside 30 video games (opens in new tab), lots of which carry high-profile names. Resident Evil, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Jurassic World, Star Wars, and The Walking Dead are all names each single gamer is aware of and loves.By all accounts, Sony ought to have an enormous displaying readily available for the launch, and I completely assume it would, however Sony’s expectations are far decrease than Meta’s by a big margin. The firm could have roughly 2 million PS VR2’s (opens in new tab) prepared for the February launch and expects it to promote at the least twice in addition to the unique PSVR.The downside is — at the least for the market, as a complete — that solely means 2 million (or so) headsets are anticipated to be offered via the whole lot of 2023. At $550 (plus the $400+ value to purchase a PS5), it is sensible that gross sales expectations are decrease than Quest 2 which retails for $400 and does not want anything to run.VR continues to develop(Image credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Ian Zelbo / Brad Lynch)And that is only a record of the merchandise we all know are literally popping out this yr, too. But there’s even one little participant I did not even point out but: Apple.Apple fanatics proceed to state that the headset “will release this year (opens in new tab)” yr out and in, making a lot of the trade marvel if such a product truly exists in any respect. Many rumors and leaks have advised that Apple is not serious about instantly competing at Meta’s value level, as soon as once more proving that Meta will proceed to steer the pack in VR headset gross sales regardless of who joins the race.VR is not going away any time quickly. There’s zero information displaying that “it’s dying” or every other sort of nonsense like that.There’s additionally the chance that Apple’s headset will not even be in the identical computing area as Meta, HTC, Sony, or Pico’s, too. Recent rumors have advised that Apple will not even ship the headset with a correct controller, which means it is extra of a media consumption machine or has extra to do with augmented/combined actuality than digital actuality gaming.It can be like making an attempt to say a smartphone competes with a laptop computer simply because each have screens and a few functionalities overlap. In quick, I’m not holding my breath in hopes that Apple is definitely making an attempt to compete with Meta on the gaming entrance.Here’s the deal, although. No matter who comes on high in 2023, the VR trade as a complete continues to develop at exponential charges and everyone wins, particularly builders. VR is not going away anytime quickly. There’s zero information displaying that “it’s dying” or every other sort of nonsense like that.And I could not be happier about it.
Forget ready, get a Meta Quest 2 now and begin gaming such as you’ve by no means gamed earlier than. VR is a type of issues that it is advisable to expertise to consider and, as soon as you place the headset on, you will not be taking it off anytime quickly.