VR games using headsets such as "MetaQuest" and "PS VR" attracted attention for a time.Will VR games become a new battlefield in the gaming market?
It is attracting attention as a new form of gaming, but its future is unknown.
VR is an abbreviation for "Virtual Reality," a general term for technology that allows you to experience a virtual space as if it were real. At present, VR is a technology that allows you to wear a headset and experience a digital screen as if it were real, and it is starting to spread. Among them, VR games are made for gaming experiences.
"MetaQuest" developed by Meta and "Play Station VR" headset for PlayStation are already on sale, and compatible software for each has also been released.
Many experts and media consider VR games to be the next blue ocean in the gaming market. For example, a report on the gaming market published by Grand View Research predicts that the market size of VR games will grow at a CAGR of 22.7% from 2023 to 2030, reaching approximately $109.5 billion by 2030.
Incidentally, the market size of the entire gaming market as of 2023 is $160 billion, so according to this forecast, the VR game market alone will grow to about two-thirds of that size by 2030.
However, such a forecast is based on overly optimistic expectations at present. It is difficult to say that the market for headsets and VR-compatible software has yet to be fully formed, and sales volume can only be predicted from a small amount of data, but there is no doubt that the explosive growth described above has not occurred at the moment.
For example, in October 2023, the cumulative revenue of the Meta Quest store reached $2 billion. However, at the same time, it has been reported that the pace of revenue over the past 12 months has been declining. Although the assessment of the figure of $2 billion depends on how you look at it, there is no doubt that it is far from the market size of $109.5 billion. Moreover, the fact that the pace of revenue is decreasing means that the momentum may even be fading.
Either way, VR games are unlikely to suddenly grow if things continue as they are. In the game market, there is a history of the market growing through hit titles in any field. For example, in smartphone games, the hit of "Puzzle & Dragons" suddenly increased the number of players, and stimulated the entry of development companies.
In the same way, unless a blockbuster title appears in VR games, it will be difficult for the market to grow to a size comparable to that of consumer and PC games. Of course, there are game companies that are entering the market seeing this situation as an opportunity, so let's hope that they will create a blockbuster.
