No One Could Buy A PS5 Or Xbox Series X This Christmas, So They Bought Oculus Quest 2 VR Headsets

This was a very, very weird Christmas season for many consumers, given the global shortages that affected a ton of products, but most notably, video game consoles. It’s been over a full year since the launch of PS5 and Xbox Series X, but the consoles remain just as hard to find now as they were right after launch, if not even harder as shortages have worsened in many ways.

One interesting side effect seems to have played out as a result of that this year. Since so few people could actually find PS5s and Xbox Series X consoles to get their friends or families, we saw a surge in a different kind of hardware. VR headsets. Specifically, Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets, which saw the Oculus app rocket up in popularity to #1 in the app store, and yielded enormous playerbase spikes for VR developers.

Developer are practically beside themselves talking about just how ridiculous these Christmas surges were for their games. They’ve never seen anything like it:

Are people just…really suddenly into VR? I suppose that’s one explanation, but I do think it’s a confluence of factors, and not just one thing.

• I do think console shortages play a significant part in this. Even if your kid wanted a PS5, it’s still extremely fun to have them open up a VR headset and play around with it on Christmas morning. This does not produce sad recipients.
• All the metaverse hype may have actually done some marketing work here. If you hear that this tech is the future enough times, you may actually think it’s time to pull the trigger and invest in it, even if the reality of it is still far away from these lofty dreams.
• Finally, at this point, the price point and ease of use of VR, specifically the Quest 2, which is relatively cheap (the price of a Nintendo Switch) and does not require being hooked up to a powerful gaming PC to run (nor use any wires at all), is the most consumer-friendly iteration of the tech we’ve seen so far.

One constant question has been if there would ever be a “moment” for VR, a singular turning point where it went from niche to mainstream adoption. I remain unconvinced such a clear moment is ever coming, nor that any one game can provide it (If Half-Life Alyx didn’t do it, I’m not sure what would). But this is one of the most significant moments I’ve seen for VR probably since its inception, and part of a slow and steady rise to mass adoption. It does seem likely that we are still decades away from overwhelming VR use, and it will continue to evolve in terms of its technical capabilities, price and wearability, but this is a big step. Even if it was aided by its hardware competition simply being inaccessible.

I am curious what the longer term use rates will prove to be for the Oculus Quest after Christmas here. One of my main issues with VR is that it’s very fun and exciting to use when you first get it, but it can quickly end up sitting on a shelf as potential players return to more traditional gaming on consoles, PC or on mobile. It’s too early to tell for these Christmas adoptees, but I would not be surprised to see a downward turn over the next few week, even if the holiday surge is overall good news for the scene.

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