VR sees record revenue in the UK on Black Friday 2023
Virtual reality had its strongest revenue week ever in the UK, according to market research firm GfK.
It looks like the VR industry broke a record on Black Friday, at least in the UK:
"VR was in the spotlight on Black Friday 2023 and this was the biggest revenue week ever for VR," GfK games boss Dorian Bloch told Gamesindustry.biz.
Compared to last year's Black Friday, sales of VR headsets were up 33 percent and revenue was up 17 percent, according to GfK.
Meta Quest 2 cheaper than ever
The fact that headset sales were up 33%, but revenue was up only 17%, suggests that the majority of sales were driven by Meta Quest 2, rather than the much more expensive new-generation headsets, namely Meta Quest 3 and Playstation VR 2, both of which were released in 2023.
Meta Quest 2 is currently discounted and cheaper than ever: in the US it is available for $250 and in the UK for £250.
GfK figures for Black Friday 2023 in the UK. Highlighting by MIXED. Tap on the image to enlarge. | Picture: GfK
Neither Meta Quest 3 nor Playstation VR 2 were discounted on Black Friday, and the new devices cost about twice as much as the last-gen Quest 2 headset from 2020. Amazon sales figures from November suggest that Quest 2 sold more than twice as well as Quest 3. At the same time, the newer headset made a similarly strong debut in Valve's latest PC VR stats as Quest 2 back in 2020.
If you're considering buying a VR headset but aren't sure which one to get, the following articles may help:
- Should I buy Quest 2 or Quest 3 - or should I wait and see?
- Should you buy a Quest 3 or Playstation VR 2?
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