{"id":327340,"date":"2026-03-03T22:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/327340\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:01:13","slug":"vr-gaming-gravy-train-has-stopped-customer-acquisition-now-the-real-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/327340\/","title":{"rendered":"VR Gaming “gravy train” Has Stopped, Customer Acquisition Now the Real Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta CTO and Reality Labs chief Andrew Bosworth detailed why he thinks he might have failed VR gaming fans, and why some people are angry, noting that it\u2019s probably because the \u201cgravy train has come to a stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The News<\/p>\n

Bosworth took to Instagram<\/a> for another one of his weekly Q&As, where he fields questions from followers. In yesterday\u2019s session, Bosworth answered this:\u00a0\u201cDo you feel that you have failed VR gaming fans? With so many sunsets and studio closures?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really up to the people to decide whether I failed them or not,\u201d Bosworth says. \u201cI suppose it does raise the age-old question: \u2018is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, Bosworth is describing the Reality Labs re-org in January, which saw 10 percent of the XR division laid off<\/a> amid several VR game studio closures<\/a>, including Twisted Pixel, Armature Studio and Sanzaru Games.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Quest 3S (left), Quest 3 (right) | Images courtesy Meta<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the people who might say I failed them would say so because they loved things that I gave them, and are mad that the gravy train has come to a stop. But I still respect that,\u201d Bosworth says.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not the first-party studio closures and near full-stop on VR game funding that Bosworth thinks is the failure: it\u2019s customer acquisition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I failed them because obviously they\u2019re already fans. They love the work. The people that argue that I\u2019ve failed are not yet VR gaming fans, who I think could be\u2014who we hoped would be by now, but who aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The failure, in Bosworth\u2019s eyes, is not having created the right product for people who haven\u2019t\u00a0already adopted VR.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I haven\u2019t built the right thing, or the right software to get them into the ecosystem. That is the failure. That is what we\u2019re trying to attack in new and different ways: is to grow the base, to make this thing sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

My Take<\/p>\n

Essentially, Bosworth\u2019s statement reads me like this: be glad for what I gave you, because you\u2019re not getting any more. You have to realize that the only thing we can do now is try to get more people in\u2026 somehow.<\/p>\n

But who are those people that Meta hopes to reach? And if they don\u2019t want big, expensive single-player content that pushes the boundaries of standalone gameplay, what do they want? Meta\u2019s strategy is too opaque to say for sure, but here\u2019s my best guess at what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

For years, Meta funded big, polished single-player titles to prove standalone VR could deliver console-style gaming. That bought goodwill with core enthusiasts, but didn\u2019t materially expand the addressable market, or drive recurring revenue at scale. That\u2019s the only thing Meta is focused on now it seems, as the \u201cgravy train\u201d has effectively stopped.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Asgard\u2019s Wrath 2 | Image courtesy Sanzuru Games, Meta<\/p>\n

In that context, Bosworth\u2019s \u201cfailure\u201d comment makes more sense. It\u2019s not that the existing fans weren\u2019t served\u2014they were. It\u2019s that the strategy didn\u2019t convert enough non-fans into regular, paying users. That, and Meta has always been the ones to \u2018show\u2019 other studios how to build VR games\u2014what with best practices and all\u2014but for the past few years it\u2019s been less about best practices and more about being the only company with deep enough pockets to create prestige content for Quest.<\/p>\n

But before running off to compare Meta\u2019s pullback to Sony\u2019s vis-\u00e0-vis PSVR 2, there are at least two rumored headsets on the horizon: codename \u2018Griffin\u2019, expected to arrive sometime in 2027 and possibly succeed Quest 3, and a slim and light, puck-tethered headset<\/a> codenamed \u2018Puffin\u2019 or \u2018Phoenix\u2019, also expected in 2027.<\/p>\n

That said, kids have been big revenue drivers since the release of Quest 2, which has directly translated to Quest 3S. As it is, Meta announced last year that younger users were helping to push\u00a0a new emphasis on free-to-play content<\/a>, which in turn has helped drive in-app purchases. Last week, Reality Labs VP of Content Samantha Ryan revealed in-app purchases increased by 13% year-over-year, which notably didn\u2019t even coincide with a new headset launch. Quest has no real competitor in the West, so\u00a0Quest 3S is likely going to be around for a few more years so younger players have an easy entry point and continue to drive in-app purchases.<\/p>\n

And at the same time, Meta has effectively decoupled Quest from its Horizon Worlds <\/a>social platform, which was dead weight on Quest. This has essentially left the Quest platform re-focused back on VR gaming, albeit created solely by third-party studios and not Meta itself. So, Quest is back to gaming without the Horizon Worlds faff mixed in, but it won\u2019t have any new first-party sponsored content either.<\/p>\n

In all, this feel less like abandonment and more like a tactical retreat.\u00a0Meta is investing in VR more than anyone, not to mention upcoming AR glasses and possible quick follow-up to Meta Ray-Ban Display. Games will still come, and some may even benefit from Meta funding to some extent, albeit not at the same scale as before. At least as Meta presents it, the long-term vision is still there; it just needs more sustainable spending and a different model to scale.<\/p>\n