VR Gaming Destined to Remain Niche?

With Meta banking big (huge, actually) on virtual and augmented reality, and Sony releasing the second iteration of its VR headset this month, it would be easy to get the impression that VR is the future of gaming - and tech, generally - that elusive 'next big thing'.

The actual reality though, is that VR headset ownership is still a very niche (and expensive) venture for consumers and, as forecasts from Statista's Advertising & Media Insights show, it's set to remain this way for the next few years at least.

With an estimated global user penetration rate of 1.3 percent in 2023, VR headset owners are still a seriously small consumer group. Compare that to video games, with a penetration rate of 45 percent, and the size of the task (and the potential) for companies looking to expand the market becomes even clearer. Take into account that not all VR headsets are going to be used for gaming, and the niche only gets smaller.