Quest 2 is selling even better than Facebook anticipated

Facebook expected the Quest 2 to sell well, but the company didn't expect the headset to fly off the shelves quiet so fast.

@pumcypuhoy

Published Oct 21, 2020 7:29 PM CDT
Updated Nov 2, 2020 11:53 PM CST

1 minute & 40 seconds read time

Facebook expected Quest 2 to be a popular device, but according to a Facebook Reality Labs executive, sales are still outpacing the company's expectations. Quest 2 might just be the device to bring VR mainstream.

Quest 2 is selling even better than Facebook anticipated 01

Facebook launched the Oculus Quest 2 one week ago, and the new device is already having a considerable effect on the growth of the VR industry. We previously wrote about the success that VR developers have seen following the headset's launch. Many of them saw 2x to 10x their usual sales numbers immediately after Quest 2's release. As you might expect, Facebook is equally excited about the interest in its new headset.

Chris Pruett, Facebook Reality Lab's Director of Content Ecosystem, this week spoke with Protocol.com and expressed his excitement about the launch.

"We really couldn't be happier," said Pruett. "The device is selling quite well. Faster than Quest did... maybe a little bit beyond what we expected."

Pruett's comments echo the sentiment that we've seen from developers. Everyone expected Quest 2 to succeed, but they weren't necessarily expecting it to take off so quickly. And it's not just the same group of VR enthusiasts buying the latest and greatest device. Pruett believes that the majority of Quest 2 users are new to the medium. In many cases, people are getting their first VR experiences with Quest 2.

Facebook's account policies may be scaring off some people from buying a Quest 2, but evidently, the login requirements aren't scaring everyone off. Ultimately, that's a good thing for the industry. VR has suffered stagnant growth for years, but it looks like Quest 2 is catching people's attention.

As more people invest in VR headsets, so too will developers invest in VR content. We're already seeing examples of that happening, such as games like The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. Pruett told Protocol that The Walking Dead "probably could not have existed in earlier generations of VR because the market simply wasn't large enough to support it."