The State of VR Games in 2022: Survey Results

The virtual reality gaming market in 2022 is characterized by a significant shift toward Meta Quest dominance, according to survey data collected from approximately 20 VR developers. While nearly half of the respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the VR market’s historical performance, there is a notable surge in optimism regarding future growth. Only 16% of developers cited the current installed base as a primary concern, suggesting a belief that the hardware has reached a critical mass.

Data analysis reveals that the Meta Quest store has become the primary revenue driver for VR titles, accounting for a median of 78.5% of monthly gross revenue and 84% of lifetime earnings for surveyed developers. This financial success is closely tied to the platform's curation; developers noted that being featured on the main store is a primary factor in success. In contrast, SteamVR is perceived by some as stagnating, with developers speculating that Steam's "reviews-to-sales" ratio for VR is higher than the platform average—median 55x—likely because the VR user experience discourages traditional text reviews.

The findings also validate specific sales estimation metrics. The ratio of sales to star ratings on the Meta Quest store is approximately 108x, confirming previous industry estimates. While the unlisted App Lab section offers a path for independent discovery, developers expressed concerns over Meta’s role as a "kingmaker" due to its heavy curation. Looking forward, the industry is anticipating the impact of PlayStation VR2 and potential Apple hardware to provide much-needed platform competition and further expand the addressable market.