Virtual reality is here big time and if anyone needs more proof of that, here it is: The Samsung Gear VR headset based on Facebook’s Oculus platform has already gone for 1 million plus sales in April 2016.
That does make for a solid start for any company with any product, more so if it’s a completely new segment that is being attempted. It has been six months that the Gear VR was launched and this is the first time the headset has topped the 1 million sales mark for a single month.
“A million is kind of a magic number for a lot of people to start taking this seriously,” Max Cohen, head of mobile for Oculus, told CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt at a press event this week. “It starts making more economic sense for others to join in.”
With that many of the VR headsets out in the wild, the segment already presents as an attractive proposition for the developers to start making VR content. The Oculus ecosystem now plays host to more than 250 applications from third-party developers. Also, its games and video that currently dominates the VR app scene though the segment does have a lot of potential in several other segments such as education, enterprise and so on.
Gaming research company SuperData Research is even predicting the segment to be worth a whopping $40 billion in revenue terms by the turn of the decade.
However, as has always been the case, it is the content that is the king once one is past the initial euphoria that a new device generates. Fortunately, there is a lot of activity on this front with Oculus emphasizing on making available original content for the platform.
While video service providers Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are all in the fray, Oculus is also in talks with Discovery to introduce a VR version of the program Deadliest Catch where the user gets to be a virtual crew member. Set for debut on May 17, the VR version of Deadliest Catch will no doubt be a game changer in the entertainment industry, setting the stage for other to join in.
