Quest 3 outperforms earlier VR headsets in a key metric
At GDC, Meta revealed that Quest 3 has a higher retention than previous Meta headsets.
Chris Pruett, Meta's Director of Content Ecosystem, said in a presentation that Quest 3 users have a better retention rate.
Quick State of the Union items from Chris Pruett: Partnership with Godot. Quest 3 has done very well. Over 100 titles have shipped with MR support. Quest 3 customers have better retention. Bigger games. MR is a big deal. Interested in social, open world and midcore games. pic.twitter.com/2KLRgoCo3k
- e- (@eminus) March 20, 2024
Retention is the percentage of customers who continue to use a product over time and is a key success factor for VR headsets. Customers who use their devices regularly are more likely to spend money on VR apps and keep the ecosystem alive.
Meta has sold nearly 20 million VR headsets as of February 2023. The question is how many of those headsets are actually used. John Carmack suggested in 2021 that many devices end up in closets. According to one report, Quest headsets had 6.37 million monthly active users in October 2022, which is about a third of the units sold.
What are the reasons for the Quest 3's success?
The answers probably lie in the unique traits of the hardware: the much faster chipset, which ensures a smoother user and gaming experience, the clearer pancake lenses and the slimmer form factor, which contributes to improved comfort. Quest 3 also offers sharper RGB passthrough, making the device less isolating and more comfortable to use. Meta Quest 3 may also have a better retention rate because it is a more expensive device that targets to enthusiasts who are more likely to drive usage.
With the higher retention rate, Quest 3 sends a positive message to the industry. In developing Quest 4, Meta is expected to double down on the areas that are considered most important to retention.
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