Meta confirmed that Quest 3 homeowners have greater retention than homeowners of its earlier headsets.
Trade hypothesis and evaluation typically focuses on headset unit gross sales, however what actually issues to each Meta and builders is what number of patrons truly frequently use the headset as a substitute of leaving it on a shelf or in a drawer. By March 2023 Meta had bought practically 20 million Quest headsets, and in October 2022 6.37 million homeowners reportedly truly used their headset that month.
At GDC 2024 this week Chris Pruett, Meta’s Director of Content material Ecosystem, suggested builders that Quest 3 homeowners return to constantly use apps at the next fee.
Again in 2019 John Carmack mentioned that the unique Oculus Quest, which had launched 4 months earlier, had greater retention than any earlier headset, together with the PC-based Rift and Rift S.
Carmack: Quest Is ‘By Far Our Most Retentive {Hardware}’, Rift S Surpasses Rift
Fb’s new VR headsets are already seeing spectacular retention, in keeping with John Carmack. Throughout his keynote speech at Oculus Join 6 right this moment, Carmack introduced that Oculus Quest is “by far” Fb’s most retentive {hardware}. The Oculus Rift S, nevertheless, has already surpassed the unique Rift when it comes to
There are a variety of potential explanations for Quest 3’s greater retention, and the reply could even be a mix of a number of.
It might be because of the greater high quality of expertise delivered by the pancake lenses and extra highly effective chipset. Apps and video games load barely sooner, look sharper and clearer, and sometimes run at greater refresh fee, that means they really feel smoother and have much less likelihood of creating the consumer really feel sick.
It may be because of the improved passthrough. Quest 3’s satisfactory high quality colour view of the world lets homeowners work together with and keep conscious of their environment with out taking the headset off, and makes utilizing the browser and watching YouTube extra broadly interesting.
There may be a level of choice right here. People who find themselves extra engaged with VR usually tend to improve to Quest 3, and people who find themselves prepared to spend $500 or $650 on a headset could also be extra prone to proceed to make use of it than those that paid a lot much less.
Whatever the causes, this information is proof that the retention drawback will not be inherent to XR headsets, and improved {hardware} over time can remedy it.
