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Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

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Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#51

Post by LarsDu88 »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #42
LarsDu88 wrote: post #4

20 million is on the same scale as the Xbox Series X, but I've heard monthly active usage is something like 75x lower. As someone who moonlights as a VR dev ( cough checkout my solodeveloped indie starfighter sim Rogue Stargun [ https://roguestargun.com ]), I think Meta also makes it really unclear how to get on their storefront. It's a process completely gated by human review which can take months (by which time Met…

How fast does it take for Steam to approve a game under similar circumstances?

Steam approves EVERYTHING so long as the store description matches the game content.

Actually, Steam is essentially equivalent to Applab. Applab and steam both have a manual review process that is not comprehensive. The difference is that steam relies on algorithms to do discoverability whereas metas store does not surface applab titles AT ALL.

There is a lot of garbage on steam for sure, but that's a problem handled by recommended algorithms, not the subjective opinions of reviewers for the most part

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#52

Post by gadilif »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #44
theogravity wrote: post #21

I have a Quest 2 and haven't touched mine in years mainly because of the set up procedure (which is common in VR headsets): I have to find available space first by moving furniture around, then I need to calibrate the headset to work in that space. After usage, I have to clean the device with wipes to make sure sweat doesn't cause bacteria to grow. If some of the items were addressed somehow, I'd be using it more fre…

If you are just playing BeatSaber, since you don’t move much you don’t really need a lot of space allocated, you still set up a room boundary but just draw it wherever. It’s too bad that Quest doesn’t have a stationary but non-stationary guardian setting that doesn’t require room boundaries.

Current versions actually support both stationary and room boundary. Also, since you begin in Passthrough mode, you can start using the device immediately (and only set up boundary when you actually need it - apps trigger space setup only when moving to VR mode for the first time, if needed).

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#53

Post by seanmcdirmid »

gadilif wrote: post #52
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are just playing BeatSaber, since you don’t move much you don’t really need a lot of space allocated, you still set up a room boundary but just draw it wherever. It’s too bad that Quest doesn’t have a stationary but non-stationary guardian setting that doesn’t require room boundaries.

Current versions actually support both stationary and room boundary. Also, since you begin in Passthrough mode, you can start using the device immediately (and only set up boundary when you actually need it - apps trigger space setup only when moving to VR mode for the first time, if needed).

Stationary is really bad though, it won’t move your perspective with your head movement. Better to setup a room boundary, even over furniture, and just stay in one place.

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#54

Post by mrguyorama »

cm2187 wrote: post #15
sph wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I one the other hand bought one before Christmas and love it. I got a Valve Index when it first released and while a fun gimmick, I don't think I've used it more than 20 hours. I have yet to play Half Life Alyx. The Quest 3 on the other hand is so plug and play I put it on pretty much every evening after work, especially because I have grown to dislike sitting on my desk to play video games. This generation of Quest…

Every kid loved videogames. I see no such enthusiasm for VR. My experience mirrors that of many others here, and of those I handed the 3 VR headsets I bought over the years: interesting, but just interesting. One off experience.

If you DGAF about the small niches where VR makes a huge improvement, like flight sims, driving sims, basically any sim where you just sit in one place, and also shooting games are pretty good, then VR provides no improvement to video gaming. The vast majority of games are NOT improved by vague "it increases immersion" claims. Nobody would play FIFA if you had to put down the controller and run around and buy $200 worth of trackers for your feet so you could kick an imaginary ball with no feedback.

Nevermind the fact that some portion of humans will never be able to do basically anything with a screen attached to their face because they are too sensitive to motion sickness.

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#55

Post by seanmcdirmid »

latchkey wrote: post #49
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they are being overly conservative but here we are. My kid is 7 so it’s a long time before he is old enough. But there is enough popularity about BeatSaber here that he wants to just play that.

I'm pretty well convinced that unless you start beatsaber at a super young age, you'll never get the skill to hit the advanced levels. I got fairly high up and just realized that I physically just can't move that fast, but I'm old now... so it is what it is.

You don't have to play expert+ to get enjoyment from the game.

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#56

Post by latchkey »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #55
latchkey wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty well convinced that unless you start beatsaber at a super young age, you'll never get the skill to hit the advanced levels. I got fairly high up and just realized that I physically just can't move that fast, but I'm old now... so it is what it is.

You don't have to play expert+ to get enjoyment from the game.

I am competitive with myself and got bored.

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#57

Post by plussed_reader »

phyrex wrote: post #38
plussed_reader wrote: post #9

I'd be open to another look at the device if the meta account requirement is removed to setup the device. It's still a nonstarter until that point.

Why? It’s already fully decoupled from all the other accounts (Facebook and such) and surely you see the need for some account, for a device with a market place?

I'm not interested in any marketplace they might offer; I want it fully decoupled from Meta.

They don't want to offer that and that's fine as their prerogative, but it's a nonstarter for my needs which is to involve Meta as little as possible in my life. I had high regard for Oculus until they got bought up by zuck and the money.

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#58

Post by int_19h »

kokken wrote: post #13

I think the main issue with VR is that it is fundamentally different from both gaming consoles and computers. I bought a meta quest 3 last year specifically to play table tennis, I play it every single day until my muscles are sore. The other apps and games, impressive as they may be, are just gimmicks. You get awed for the first few hours and put the device away never to be touched again. I would say the biggest hur…

It definitely varies from person to person, but I would dispute the assertion that it cannot be used for longer periods of time in principle. The category of games where your avatar moves through controller usage includes most flight sims, for example, and yet some people (myself included) can play them for hours in VR. I also play Ground Branch in VR sometimes, using keyboard and mouse for navigation, and it only takes a couple minutes to settle into a comfortable state. So I think there's a subset of people for whom this is not a problem. The question is how large that subset is...

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#59

Post by int_19h »

mrguyorama wrote: post #54
cm2187 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every kid loved videogames. I see no such enthusiasm for VR. My experience mirrors that of many others here, and of those I handed the 3 VR headsets I bought over the years: interesting, but just interesting. One off experience.

If you DGAF about the small niches where VR makes a huge improvement, like flight sims, driving sims, basically any sim where you just sit in one place, and also shooting games are pretty good, then VR provides no improvement to video gaming. The vast majority of games are NOT improved by vague "it increases immersion" claims. Nobody would play FIFA if you had to put down the controller and run around and buy $200 wo…

There are some similarly small entertainment niches outside of gaming, too. For example, high-res (think 8K+) fractal videos in VR are amazing to watch, and I use it for that regularly.

It's just not clear that all this stuff in aggregate adds up to enough users to sustain a business model that would allow for VR as affordable as Quest 3.

Re: Meta has sold nearly 20M Quest headsets, but retention struggles remain (2023)

#60

Post by int_19h »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #45
DreamFlasher wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first issue is solved by Quest 3: 1) calibration is a matter of seconds, 2) it remembers all previously calibrated spots, so I basically never need to calibrate. Yes, you need about 2m² space if you want to move/do fitness, but that's something no VR can solve.

If your fitness experience doesn’t involve actual movement from one spot (like BeatSaber, fitXR, supernatural, on shape, etc…) you only need about 1m^2, probably a bit less (basically wherever your hands can extend to needs to be unobstructed).

Beat saber does require movement to dodge blocks, though. And while 1m of sideways movement might technically be enough to dodge anything in the game (not sure tho...), in practice it can be hard to not move more than that once you start. I certainly wouldn't want to do that risking crashing into the surrounding furniture by moving further than necessary.
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