Despite some ups and downs in recent years, the VR industry continues to grow. According to Newzoo, gaming revenues in the sector will exceed $3 billion by 2024.
Key takeaways from the report
- The new Newzoo report is based on a survey of 5,797 people aged 10-50 across the US, the UK, Japan, and China.
- VR game revenues will reach $1.8 billion in 2022, which is up 28.5% year-over-year.
- Overall, revenues are expected to increase more than sixfold in five years, from $500 million in 2019 to $3.2 billion in 2024.
VR gaming revenues will grow at a CAGR of 44% from 2019 to 2024
- Analysts cited growth in the install base and an increase in average spend per user as two major factors driving VR game revenues.
- The number of active VR headset users* is expected to reach 27.7 million this year, growing to 46 million by 2024 (*people who used their VR headset at least once in the past 12 months).
- Speaking of VR hardware’s growth, Newzoo cited affordability of Meta Quest, lockdowns, and the 2019 launch of “VR gaming’s first AAA killer app”, Half-Life: Alyx, as the main reasons.
The number of active VR headset users will grow at a CAGR of 42% from 2019 to 2024
- 72% of respondents use VR headsets for playing games, followed by watching videos (63%), attending virtual events (54%), and traveling (32%).
- 63% of VR headset owners are male. They are usually people aged 21-35 with a mid-to-high income.
- Shooter remains the most popular genre on VR, followed by Adventure, Simulation, RPG, and Sandbox.
More information about the current state of the VR market can be found in Newzoo’s full report.