For VR to succeed in the consumer space, an ecosystem of developers making content that users want to buy is an absolute must. Oculus for its part has attempted to kickstart that ecosystem by investing hefty sums in content developers, and now the company says it’s starting to pay off.

Update (10/17/17): Following our last update on the number of Rift titles in the ‘Oculus $1 Million Club’, the company has offered further clarification. Oculus’ Head of Content, Jason Rubin, tells Road to VR that in the few months since the company confirmed that four titles had made more than $1 million in the Oculus store, that figure has “more than doubled.” That brings the latest count to at least 9 titles which have made more than $1 million in the Oculus store.

Rubin further said on Twitter that, unlike many of the platform’s biggest games, some of the titles in the $1 million club were not published by Oculus Studios, which bodes well for independent publishers and developers working in the growing VR marketplace.

It isn’t clear at present if this latest count includes just Rift titles or both Rift and Gear VR titles. We’ve reached out to Oculus for clarification.


Update (10/16/17): Last week at Oculus Connect 4, Oculus’ Head of Content, Jason Rubin, confirmed that Lone Echo was the “fastest title to reach $1 million” in revenue on the Oculus platform, and said the game’s sales are “still going strong.” With that, membership in the ‘Oculus $1 Million Club’ rises to at least five VR titles.

Launched back in July and priced at $40, Lone Echo would have sold around 25,000 copies upon crossing the $1 million mark. Rubin highlighted the fact that the game is the top rated paid Oculus title according to Metacritic, where aggregate critic reviews put the game at an 89 out of 100. We gave the game a 9 out of 10 in our review.


Update (7/20/17): Since initially saying that “multiple titles” have earned more than $1 million on their VR storefront, Oculus has told Road to VR more specifically that four titles have hit the milestone, one of which we now know to be The Climb.

Oculus’ Head of Content, Jason Rubin, also more recently provided the latest content count for titles on the Oculus store, contrasted with what was available at the launch of the headset. According to Rubin, the Rift had 30 titles when it launched in early 2016, and the entire platform had 120 titles at the time the Touch controllers launched later in the year. Today, he says, there’s 500 Rift titles available, with more than 200 made for Touch.

We expect the percentage of the library offering Touch support to grow dramatically going forward, especially as Oculus is now selling both the headset and the controllers bundled together by default.

Original Article (7/12/17): With the backing of Facebook, Oculus has publicly committed to investing $500 million into VR content development. The fruits of that funding have brought some of VR’s most polished and substantive games to date, like Chronos, Edge of Nowhere, Robo Recall, Dragon Front, SUPERHOT VR, The Unspoken, and more. Though the exclusivity attached to many Oculus funded games has been controversial, the company believes it’s the right approach to starting the VR content ecosystem, as Oculus’ Head of Content, Jason Rubin, told us last year:

“[One way create a sustainable customer/developer ecosystem], is to do it the way PC originally did it which started 30 years ago; I was making games when the PC came out. The way you do it is, you put it in a ziplock bag, you put it on the shelf, somebody buys your ziplock game, and the addressable market gets a little bigger. [Then] you make a better game that you put in a very cheap box and over time it gets to $100 million games. It took 30 years. We don’t want [VR] to take 30 years. We want this generation to race forward. Because we don’t have the luxury that the PC market had, where it was the best-looking thing out there. Well, we’re going up against Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. [Gamers] have the ability to play these triple-A games. So if we don’t compete visually [and] depth-wise, if we don’t jump out there and give them great games to play right off the bat, we may never have what the PC had. We may never have the stepping stone. What we are doing now is the only way to viably jumpstart the market.”

Now Oculus says its investments are starting to snowball into a growing ecosystem. Speaking with Rubin last week, he told Road to VR that “multiple titles have made more than $1 million in the Oculus Store alone,” and later confirmed the actual count to be four titles which have hit the milestone.

In this fledgling ecosystem, bringing in $1 million in revenue from a VR title is a rarity, even for games available on both the Oculus Store and Steam. To hear that a handful of apps have generated as much from just the Oculus Store is sure to bolster developers’ spirits.

SEE ALSO
On the Hunt for VR’s Killer App with Oculus' Head of Content, Jason Rubin

For Steam’s part, the most recent indication of VR developer success came from Valve in February which said that some 30 titles had made more than $250,000 on the platform (and we know that several of those—like Job Simulator and Raw Data—have exceeded $1 million in revenue as well).

“When VR launched there was no [installed market] for VR games. So even an inexpensive title didn’t have a lot of opportunity for success,” Rubin said. But now with those few strong successes under the company’s belt, and a growing user base, things are different; Rubin says he’s confident that small to medium-sized teams making VR games can turn a profit without needing an investment to offset their risk.

“That doesn’t mean we’re done with investment,” he says, “but we move up the investment chain. So we used to invest $100K, $200K, but we don’t have to do that so much anymore because those people can get paid out [from the install base].

Instead, the company is now operating at a higher level, funding content in the $1 million to $5 million range, since it’s games of that scale where the risk has shifted to and where developers are less likely to be sure they can break even.

Oculus’ plan is to keep moving up this funding scale with the hope that each time they take a step up, the prior steps will have enough of an install base for developers to be able to justify developing VR games without special funding. If the company plays its cards right, the hope is that it the VR game development ecosystem will eventually catch up to the traditional game development ecosystem which can organically support the kind of huge AAA productions that many gamers (VR or otherwise) want.

SEE ALSO
Oculus: Rift Won't Be Superseded by New Version for 'at least two years'

If and when the VR game development ecosystem catches up, Rubin says that Oculus’ funding role will begin to look more like that of Sony and Microsoft.

“We will [eventually] move into the position where the larger console manufacturers are at—where they are funding content to fill specific goals, not because it wouldn’t get made otherwise.”

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • TypicalGirl

    The problem is not funding content. The problem is funding exclusivity…

    • Mane Vr

      y is that a problem

    • JeanClaude

      Come on, you expect them to invest half a billion dollar and let Steam make all the money from the sales?

      Keep in mind, they’re not paying for exclusivity. They’re literally paying to have the game made at all.

      • Simplex

        No, I expect them to enable using Vive to play Oculus Home without unofficial hacks which have performance penalty and random issues.

        • Get Schwifty!

          For a bunch of people who generally hate Oculus they sure salivate over that software…. which I think is rather humorous given how all we also hear is how superior the Steam environment is and the games like Fallout 4 VR will be an “open” will win the day. Funny thing is the same thing is true for Vive exclusives, where trying to use a Rift and controllers is clumsy at best, yet where is the outcry? Oh right, Oculus owners deserve what they get for supporting a “closed” platform… hypocrisy at its finest….

          • Kris Bunch

            I chose Oculus cause 1, it was cheaper, and 2 knowing how much FB is investing in content. Funny how much the Vive folks want to use the Oculus home.

          • Simplex

            Funny, how the Oculus reacted vein when there was even a slight possibility that Fallout 4 VR may be exclusive to Vive.

          • Best place to find VR content. It’s the Steam storefront of VR games.

            So you can’t blame them to wanting to use the best storefront with what they believe is the best headset.

            Why settle for less, right?

            At least they can use best storefront to play the best VR games with what could be the best VR controllers which is the Knuckles.

            Win Win :D

          • Art Sin

            Oculus are funding the most interesting games. Steam Sucks TBH. Glad I sold my VIve and Brought a Rift bundle. Best decision I’ve made. recently.

          • Well, owning a Vive isn’t a bad thing since you get to play everything w/ all VR and especially due to the knuckles controller which is a huge step above the touch n motion gloves.

          • NooYawker

            Wrong, no Vive users want to use Oculus Home. they’re just speaking out against paying to create games that actively block Vive users from playing the games. If Steam decided to play the same game Oculus would lose badly.

          • The outcry for Oculus users must come from Oculus users. That’s the way it works.

            However everyone over there perhaps thinks there are no valve exclusives

            They can’t think of any. That’s because Oculus has nearly all exclusives, so much that it over shadows Valve exclusives.

            Oculus also made a big deal about exclusives whereas valve is touting open platform.

            They are making it so easy to be the target, so much so that Revive is famous.

            But the tool that make Rift play Vive…NEVER gets a mention, anywhere(nearly all the time, but never from articles)

            And when talking about buying the Rift, no one speaks of Valve exclusives or some tool that lets Rift run them.

            No one mentions its name, they describe it…Perhaps because they have long forgotten it’s name.

            You’re fightin a losin battle tryin to get folks to acknowledge something most don’t know exists or is easily forgotten.

            Oculus has a big mouth and love shootin themselves in the foot and never mention vive exclusives.

            So what you expect?

            Jus beatin a dead horse.

            (Don’t forget the Lucky/Trump fiasco that had Devs abandoning Rift)

          • Dan

            The Vive exclusives are shit.

          • NooYawker

            The difference is developer have to be bribed to create exclusives for Oculus. Valve doesn’t pay or even ask any developer to create exclusives. Facebook has developers add code to block Vive users, that’s just low handed tactics.

        • Kris Bunch

          Why would they enable their competition to use the Oculus home? Can you buy iPhone games from the play store and Android games in the Apple app store? No you say? Well same deal here. I think Oculus will quickly outpace Vive now that they are dropping the prices AND putting out some close to AAA content.

          • Simplex

            What a stupid comparison – PC VR is not comparable to a mobile market, and android and iOS are completely different OSes so they are incompatible (plus they have different hardware). Not to mention many games are available on both platforms, Apple does not enforce exclusivity, it’s devs choice.
            Also, you can buy games on SteamVR and play them on Oculus Rift, so why can’t you buy games on Oculus Home and play them on Vive? This is stupid exclusivity which should not happen in a PC ecosystem which has always been open.

          • You tell’em :D

          • Justos

            I think you’re missing the point that oculus can and will do anything that is legal and what they want to do with their hardware and software for THEIR customers. They have great support for people who buy their headset, and not the vive. get over it.

          • Simplex

            You are missing the point that most pc gamers know that exclusivity on PC is anti consumer and will criticise it. Get over it.
            You are also presenting a really dumb view with “THEIR customers”. If I want to be able to buy things on their store I am not worthy enough of a customer because I do not own a Rift? Nice attitude.

          • CURTROCK

            Oculus funds exclusives as incentive to choose Rift, over other headsets. They are usually timed exclusives, and will become avail to other HMD users later.

          • Simplex

            I wish you weren’t wrong, but you are. First party exclusives (Oculus Studios) are not timed exclusives and they will probably never be available on other platforms – games like Lucky’s Tale, Chronos, Edge of Nowhere, Dead and Buried, The Climb, Wilson’s Heart, Lone Echo, Arktik.1, Unspoken and many more.

          • CURTROCK

            Fair enough. For now at least, they are exclusive. I concede. Again, this is part of their incentive to encourage people to choose Rift. This is the sole reason why they are funding games that wouldn’t exist otherwise. What I don’t understand is why you want a company who you specifically chose NOT to support, to make their product available for you to use on their competitors product. It’s not about you being a “worthy customer”; by “not” purchasing their HMD, you have already indicated that you are not their customer.

          • Simplex

            That logic falls apart because they do not block revive. They tried to block and then they removed
            I want to PAY for their games (so support) but I guess paying for games I not enough because I bought a headset from another company. On a PC market that kind of exclusivity is BS.
            I know their reasons, you don’t have to defend them, it’s stil shitty anti consumer practice. If Vive or steam did it it would be the same.
            Imagine valve would want to hurt competition by saying “we want exclusivity, if you want your game on steam, it cannot be available anywhere else”.

          • NooYawker

            If Steam did the same thing they would literally crush Oculus. Steam is the platform gamers and developers choose first. The Vive outsold the oculus even though it’s more expensive.
            Bottom line is Steam and Facebook have two very different business models. Valve profits from selling games, Facebook profits from user data. That’s why FB NEEDS people to only use the oculus so they can gather all that valuable user data. And what a boon to have actual webcams in users homes.

          • Dan

            Vive went almost 6 months with actual VR controllers, of course they sold more. I see your one of those folks who trys to play the Facebook selling data line, you even bring up the webcam shit, you Vive owners are salty man children.

            You really think Valve doesn’t sell your user data?

          • NooYawker

            I always find it hilarious when people say things like “you think xyz company doesn’t gather any data”. Think about it for a second. What is valves business model and what is Facebook? Same goes for google. Billion dollar companies that dont really sell anything. It just shows people really don’t understand the level of privacy they’re actually giving up to save a couple of bucks.

          • NooYawker

            How does blocking other PC devices help THEIR customers? Does it hurt you if my Vive can purchase and use Oculus games? It doesn’t hurt me that you can use any game found on Steam. In fact, it helps the entire VR industry if you, an oculus user, can purchase and use any game from Steam.

          • NooYawker

            First of all VR headsets are run on a computer. Do you need a computer to run your phone? It’s not like the PSVR which the games are coded differently and runs on it’s own hardware. It’s run on a PC and so called “exclusives” are just blocks against Vive users “which is easily overcome with revive”
            So your smartphone comparison shows you are clueless.

      • TypicalGirl

        It looks like many people here are confusing hardware exclusivity with software exclusivity. I have no problem with Facebook selling the games they funded on their own store. The problem I have with is two fold – 1) not supporting Vive or other headsets on their store; 2) pay developers to not support other headsets (either time exclusive or permanently).

        It’s anti-consumer console-wannabe tactics. It offers zero benefit to consumers. I really don’t understand why some people are defending such act. Imagine if you can’t use your Rift on Steam and the only options you have are the 10 different games on Oculus store…

        • Rick

          People also forget Valve doesn’t make the VIVE. HTC makes the Vive. Valve makes their money off their widely popular store, why wouldn’t they support as many headsets as possible? HTC would probably be doing the same thing Oculus is doing with their store if it weren’t for the Valve partnership. Oculus isn’t aiming to make the most money off their store, they want more users to have their hardware. So what is Oculus’ incentive to make Vive support so early on?

        • CURTROCK

          There are hundreds of games on the Oculus store. I have purchased all of my content from the Oculus store. I am very happy with the variety & quality of the content being presented by the company i chose to support,which is why i purchased Rift. Are you not happy with the content being provided by the company that you chose to support?

          • What is this, a sales pitch?

          • CURTROCK

            No, it’s not a sales pitch. It’s a statement, in response to her previous statement

          • What if he isn’t?

          • NooYawker

            Why shouldn’t steam users be able to buy from the oculus store? Why does Facebook have developers put in code to prevent it from being used on the Vive? Oculus users can buy and use any software found on the steam store? You see the issue here?

          • Mane Vr

            There is no software BLOCKING any hmd the game it just simply made using oculus runtime of which value and htc has block vive from working with

          • NooYawker

            Hardware checks to make sure it doesn’t start unless you’re running an oculus isn’t technically a block I guess. Semantics I suppose.

          • Mane Vr

            Yes that was to stop people with vive getting the games that was meant to be free for rift owners once they got it so that those who don’t have rift had to pay for all the games they reverse that

          • NooYawker

            Oh I though it was an “accident” that’s the official response anyway.

          • CURTROCK

            Oculus pays to have certain games made, for the sole purpose of enticing customers to purchase Rift. Those games are currently only available for Rift owners. Yes, I see the issue you are referring to: Steam makes money on selling games. Oculus is trying to sell HARDWARE, and build a platform to rival Steam.

        • JeanClaude

          I was under the impression the issue was that Valve does not allow other stores. Isn’t that the “string attached” you get from using their lighthouse tech for free. That’s what I read a while ago.

          From Valve’s side, why would they allow HTC to use their tech for free, unless the games for the headset are bought on Steam?

          • You can get Steam keys from any store. Nearly every store leads to Steam including trade sites.

            Is there really something stopping Oculus store from selling Steam keys or making their games Vive compatible?

          • Mane Vr

            Yes there is something blocking them for making home compatible. Value has block oculus runtime from working on the vive. Fb allows openvr to work on the rift which is y u HAVE to turn on the ability to use 3rd sdk on the rift in the setting

          • NooYawker

            So why did Oculus tried to block revive at one point? Don’t try to blame steam for Facebooks underhanded tactics.

          • So whats stopping them from letting other websites sell keys to rift games downloaded only from Oculus store?

          • Mane Vr

            U act let this is something simple there is a lot of legal things to work out with profit sharing steam didn’t start doing that in the beginning yrs y do u think oculus should in it’s dirst few years too…

          • jus asked a question…Why didn’t you jus answer w/o assuming some “act”.

            Who’s post are you reading?

            You seem annoyed for no reason :)

          • Mane Vr

            Then i am sorry i read it wrong

          • NooYawker

            Oculus users can buy and play any game found on the steam store. Facebook on the other hand prevents Vive users from playing games on the oculus store. that’s why revive exists, to go around Facebooks malicious code that blocks vive users.

          • Mane Vr

            Not how this work but ok keep thinking that

        • Mane Vr

          Htc can fix this by simply allowing vive to work with oculus runtime just as oculus allow the rift to work with openvr it that easy

          • Cl

            The problem is facebook wont let the games in the oculus store support openvr, while steam supports everything

            “just as oculus allow the rift to work with openvr” i dont think this is true.

          • Mane Vr

            That is 100% true if u own an oculus go in ur setting amd turn off unknown sources then see id u can play ur games on steamvr u will quicky find out that it has been oculus all along allowing u to play on steamvr and not value… but there is no setting lile that at all for vive owners which is y they can’t play rift games without revive

          • Caven

            I go into much more detail in another response, but Valve doesn’t have “Unknown sources” as an option, because it’s already built into SteamVR. To put it another way, SteamVR doesn’t have the ability to disable “Unknown sources”.

          • Cl

            Actually youre right. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2016/12/9/13902788/how-valve-puts-steamvr-games-onto-the-oculus-rift

            So the best solution is for oculus store to support openvr so all headsets can work in their store.

          • Mane Vr

            Y should they do that why not value allow vive to work with oculus runtime then when vive owners buy oculus games ur get all the features with it like atw and asw

          • Cl

            So you want every headset made to support oculus runtime when oculus could just support open vr which will work with anything? Just a lot simpler. Read the article if you havent.

          • Mane Vr

            Yes i want every hmd to support oculus runtime and openvr.

          • Caven

            No, it is not that easy. If it were, ReVive wouldn’t have to rely on the hacks they use to work with the Oculus runtime. They’d just implement proper support for the Oculus runtime, as if they were a developer.

            To look at it another way, any random developer who wants to make software that works with the Vive is able to do so without requiring any active effort from Valve or HTC. I know this for a fact, as a developer I work with is in the process of making an application for the Vive using an engine of his own design, and Vive support is already working. So if a no-name developer on essentially zero budget can make software work on the Vive all by himself, why is Oculus somehow dependent on Valve or HTC in order to do that same thing? Like any ordinary VR developer, Valve was able to make software that can work with the Rift hardware. So like any ordinary VR developer, Oculus should be able to make software that can work with the Vive hardware–unless they don’t want to.

          • Mane Vr

            Its the sdk that lets it works on what ever hmd value and htc doesn’t allow oculus runtime to work on their hmd it is oculus who allow the rift to work with openvr it was not value that allow rift to work with steamvr. If u turn off the option in oculus setting there is nothing value can do to make that rift work with steamvr. Ur example of u dev has nothing to do with all the things going on that none of us no about

          • Caven

            You’re misunderstanding what the “Unknown sources” option does in the Oculus app. The default behavior of the Oculus app is that it blocks all software not approved by them. Turning on the “Unknown sources” option bypasses that restriction, which is critical for developers making applications. If that feature didn’t exist, no applications could be made for the Rift without explicit prior approval from Oculus.

            With SteamVR, that “Unknown sources” option doesn’t exist as an option because SteamVR already allows software from unknown sources to run by design. SteamVR does not have a mode that only runs applications specifically approved by Valve or HTC. Any developer –including Oculus–that wants to make their software work with the Vive can do so, without any permission or effort from Valve or HTC.

            If you turn off “Unknown sources” in the Oculus app, the Rift stops working in SteamVR because Oculus never explicitly approved SteamVR as an Oculus application. If Oculus had intended their headset to be compatible with SteamVR, they’d have added it as an approved application, so that the “Unknown sources” option wouldn’t need to be checked. And that option isn’t there just for the purpose of running SteamVR. It’s there so that developers can work on their applications without having to have Oculus involved every step of the way.

            In comparison, you can’t turn off “Unknown sources” in SteamVR, because the ability to run apps from unknown sources is the only mode that’s supported. Basically, it’s permanently enabled. Valve doesn’t require any developer to get approval from them in order to use SteamVR. Every developer–no matter how big or small–can use SteamVR in any of their applications. SteamVR has no mode that can block applications from unknown sources, because Valve doesn’t keep a list of approved apps.

            Valve doesn’t require a Vive to be attached for SteamVR to work, but Oculus does require a Rift to be attached for the Oculus app to work. That’s why ReVive has to trick the Oculus app into thinking a Rift is connected.

          • Mane Vr

            Oculus blocks other sdk from working with rift just like vive blocks other sdk.. vive works with any game made with openvr but not with anyother sdk while if u turn on unknown sources the rift can then work with other sdk meaning openvr etc

        • Miganarchine Migandi

          Lone Echo runs perfect on my Vive with Re-Vive ;0)

      • NooYawker

        Wrong! they are paying for exclusivity. If you’ll notice most developers will develop for the platform gamers prefer, steam.
        Secondly Facebook doesn’t make money from sales, they don’t care about sales revenues, the only thing they care about is data mining. The more people that use Oculus the more data they can mine. They dropped 19 BILLION for whatsapp, you seriously think pittance they paid for oculus means anything to them?

        • Dan

          You mean all those crap shovelware games?

        • Tommel

          “Wrong! they are paying for exclusivity.”

          Exactly, and this is IMO the very reason why there is no official Vive support (yet). Official Vive support would mean that you have to actually make sure that the games you promote as being Vive/Rift compatible ARE really working with both HMDs. Otherwise, people will start complaining etc. Furthermore, you would already be obliged to care for Rift/Vive compatibility during the development of a game (take, for isntance, Lone Echo… the game is made for the Touch controllers and not for the Vive wands… if you promote the game as Vive/Rift compatible, you would have to explain to your customers why the Rift-owners have such a better gaming-experience than the VIve-owners). Assuming that FB/Oculus is paying for most of the content at the moment… why would they invest more millions to make sure that the Vive-support really works? (because they do, of course, also want to sell their HMDs) I think the “Revive” solution works much better for them (at the moment… until the store is really established and more developers decide to produce for the Oculus store without asking for monetary aid from FB/Oculus). There is no responsibility and no false-advertisment… but most of the titles nevertheless work with Vive. And they could also block Revive. But they don’t. Which shows that the argument of “destroying and punishing VIve-owners” is at least not the only motivation for them.

    • People need a reason to buy into VR in the first place. The average person does not care about exclusive titles, they need a damn good reason to purchase a VR headset. Small, unpolished indie titles aren’t going to do that. Oculus is the only ones now who are funding quality content… there is no reason for them to give it away to steam so steam can profit on it and also keep people locked into the steam store, and thus failing to grow the Oculus home ecosystem. Funding good content is not a problem… it helps attract consumers to VR. That is what we need.

      • Wonder why you folks think Vive users care about where a VR game is sold.

        Folks go to Uplay, Origin, GOG, etc. to get games exclusive to that platform and don’t bitch(well, some do, but it’s based on hate or laziness to open another client) and that’s because they can play those PC games.

        Can Vive users play Rift exclusives w/o hack? Nope.

        Prefer the Oculus store, anyway. Steam does a terrible job promoting VR games, but the games can have cheaper sales on Steam and other websites.

        Oculus should consider serial keys :)

        VR bundles especially on charitable websites like humble bundle is a very nice thing.

  • iThinkMyCatIsAFlea

    I don’t trust Oculus.

    • Xron

      You invest cash into game, you literally pay for it and then you give it to others to cash in?
      I do not think you would do it ;)
      Just be glad we can enjoy having higher quality games than we would have, if facebook would not invest into their creation…

      • Caven

        Your argument has nothing to do with Donald Trump, which is iThinkMyCatIsAFlea’s main problem with Oculus.

        • iThinkMyCatIsAFlea

          What Caven said.

          Also, if you get time, Google Oculus Trump…
          If that isn’t too strenuous, Google Palmer Luckey $100,000 Trump. He was still employed at Oculus when he donated that $100,000 btw.

          Don’t support Oculus.

          • Dont think it’s that cut n dry or black n white.

            Do you even know if he could have been fired by anyone at Oculus?

          • Coyoty

            Luckey can’t be fired from Oculus because he doesn’t work there. He left long ago to work on surveillance for Trump’s wall.

          • At the time…

          • dogbite

            If you aren’t buying Oculus because of Palmer’s Trump support then with that logic you should not purchase from any company with employees that voted for him. Oh wait that’s half your country. I’ll bet your politics don’t extend that far since half your country voted the guy in.
            If my purchase decisions were dictated by the rule of not buying from a company with employees who did not share my politics, I wouldn’t own much, particularly from American companies since most will have at least 1 employee that disqualifies them based on this thinking. Sheesh

          • MasterElwood

            just block the troll like most of us did :-)

          • Evgeni Zharsky

            people can spend their own money on whatever they want. That’s how the world works. I’m sorry you have such a hard time adjusting.

    • CURTROCK

      Hey there! How is your 1 person crusade to try and put Oculus out of business going? You must be very proud of the results of your efforts. Sorry you weren’t able to screw everyone who works for the company and purchased a Rift out of their enjoyment.

    • JonBishop

      This guy is so politically triggered, he can’t even enjoy life anymore. #sad

  • impurekind

    Sounds smart to me.

  • Paul Schuyler

    Interesting but I don’t agree at all with the rationale. VR is not in danger, as compared to PC gaming. It doesn’t need daddy Oculus. PC gaming took 30 years, but it was a natural evolution of computers. Bit by bit, innovation by innovation, it grew organically according to its need and use. When VR grows organically too it will be everything it has to be. People surmise that if there isn’t a day one market there will be a death spiral of the headsets, etc. The only death spiral that’s really in danger is Oculus’ hyped-up projections. Even if that happens, so what? VR is a different media entirely, gaming may not even be it’s true value. All this thinking is, is framing the new via the lens of the old. VR certainly has intriguing value; immersion, a visceral connect to the subconscious, sharable spatial awareness, etc. Innovation doesn’t just die for lack of a corresponding marketing scheme…Instead it just takes its time and finds its true place. Were that not true we’d still be living in caves throwing rocks.

    • Get Schwifty!

      The good thing is you don’t have to agree but there are other points of view. The “exclusivity” is an illusion, one that the tolerance of Revive clearly dispels. However, “exclusivity” does achieve the aim of establishing Oculus as a brand for Facebook, instead of it just being yet another generic hardware platform like buying a mouse. There is also the fact that while yes, the market could grow “organically”, i.e. haphazardly, there is no reason it has to be that way and there are plenty of examples of “organic” growth that failed. Why leave it to chance?

      VR isn’t in danger is tantamount to saying the paltry sales of both Oculus and Vive is a sustainable market on it’s own… that barely a million owners in the world is a market that developers can make money in. The reality is devs aren’t really making substantial money, even with “hit” titles like Arizona Sunshine because there isn’t a significant market yet. The reality is people need a real identifiable reason to buy one, the vast market of PC owners are literally sitting on the sidelines waiting for content, I have even personally met one who sold his Vive (yes, Vive) because of the lack of good content. Now, I think he was being a bit silly buying a gen-1 hardware setup and expecting things like Fallout, but that’s the vast majority of the market, not the early adopter crowd that posts here. Oculus sees this, and if you look back in time, every successful hardware platform that had a body of software virtually from day one, those that didn’t or weren’t perceived didn’t get mass adoption.

      The reality is, the effort is primed to succeed, considering the cut in prices and the software bundles, people are looking anew at Oculus, and the price of entry has come down. All the while on Vive we have a now over-priced platform with currently clumsy controllers that charges a premium for every upgrade and Oculus has improved its tracking to the point its not really that big a difference anymore. It’s entirely possible Oculus may in time outsell Vive, as the general public that want’s a sure thing sees it as a read-made ecosystem to buy into with a plethora of quality games.

      I’m not saying your wrong in every context, but its not the only way to look at the picture, because it’s more than about letting hardware into the wild and waiting for people to buy in over time if they do. FB/Oculus is taking a very long view, decades actually and while I don’t like the exclusives myself, I do recognize the wisdom of using them to establish a brand in the short term. Valve is clearly lined up with Vive, and expecting Oculus to put their brand into the hands of another which is clearly aligned with their main competitor is foolhardy at best. And you are correct, VR is about far more than gaming, and it’s the social media aspects particularly that FB is determined to be a leader in, which is driving the whole approach.

      The reality is people should be thanking their stars that rather than have to wait 10 years for true original AAA titles (Fallout 4 VR is ultimately a hack), we might get there in 5 with the push of Oculus funding. People need to get over there fear that somehow Oculus funding is going to mean they can’t play on their Vive, it’s not a problem and you get the benefit of the development in VR as well.

      • dogbite

        Agree
        Ever since pc gaming became a thing (around the Intel 486 days) and until recent years , it took a back seat to consoles, it’s games being outsold by the consoles by multiples of 10 despite us all knowing pc was a superior experience. It’s demise was predicted many times. It took a lot of years for the kiddies to realize this and gaming level pcs to arrive in most homes. That Oculus is spending big to shorten the cycle of VR adoption is to me a positive thing. Exclusives aside there is much to play for everyone and much more coming that needs this installed base. I can live with timed exclusives and even a couple that may not be timed. Speeding growth is good for all VR. It may not be ideal but is a viable process to ensure we get games that would not be made at this point. Those wishing to disagree are welcome to their opinion. Just go back to enjoying the revolution and play in VR. It will all flesh out in time as the industry growth stabilizes. No perspiration.

        • Get Schwifty!

          Hmmmm my memories a tad different, the PC came up and quickly generated a gaming presence as the main platform, Sony revitalized the console market which was effectively dead since the heyday of the Atari consoles. This was what moved the PC down the chain as a gaming platform (however it is actually still quite strong here for development). As much as my love affair with the PC is central component of my life, I realize that the typical Millennial and going forward simply isn’t interested in the PC anymore and a console-style platform with controllers, HMD and tracking at around a $400 price point is what it will take. Oculus ultimately is not wed to the PC, which is in part why I think they simply don’t care about it as a specific platform despite developing for it now.

          • dogbite

            Your memory of the ascension of consoles in the earliest days may indeed be better than this old gamer (been playing since Pong). Although my first console, the Intellivision, pre-dates pc gaming. I was the millennial back then. My point was geared more to the repeated predictions of pc death during the rise in dominance of consoles. It took a long time for pc to regain the top gaming platform position.

            Since my generation has all the money and we are greater in numbers, the market has a good chance of staying strong at the high end for quite some time. The price point your typical millennial joins in VR is as much about finance as it is interest. I will say though that the last 2 millennials that I put in the Rift both bought PCs to run it, but since they both grok vinyl and 60/70s rock they may not be typical. I don’t care what the typical millennial wants to spend on VR they are not driving the car on this one. I am sure they will get the dumbed down VR. experience that the entry price you suggests they seek merits. They will defend the quality as “pretty good” all the while praying dad builds a new pc and donates the old one and the old gen1 hmd.

            Big game titles have Hollywood budgets. Zuckerberg didn’t buy Oculus to do games but to enhance social media and that’s fine. I am sure that he understands that games are big bucks and the current best way to show off the wonders of VR otherwise why commit millions of dollar to that end.

        • care package

          Being a ‘superior experience’ is subjective. Consoles are built for the living room. PCs are not, and a better fit for the desk. In other words comfort, simplicity, big screen and big sound still count toward the ‘experience’. Yes PCs can be hooked to the television, yet almost no one wants to do it (and for good reason).

          Steam single handedly saved PC gaming from the brink of extinction. If it hadn’t the marketing to get us to throw our PCs out and buy the expendable mobile PCs (laptops and tablets) would have actually worked.

      • ulricr

        I can’t figure out where the person you’re replying, “Paul” is going with his argument. It looks he wants VR to remain niche and just grow “organically over time”.

        VR been niche for 30 years. It’s just starting to move now because people see a market and put money in it.

        Those recent game-focused move and investments do not take anything away from people who want to do research or wilder things with VR. University research projects and people sitting in a cycle singing kumbaya do not fund the hardware innovations that’s necessary for things to move forward.

        It’s probably just thinly veiled hatred of oculus masquerading as analysis.

        What VR needs is exactly an “oculus daddy” that’s going to spend money on it even it isn’t really rational to do so. That doesn’t take anything away from the people who do not want that money.

        • Paul Schuyler

          Well one can take that view. I don’t want VR to remain niche…I want it to grow for real (which it’s mostly doing for enterprise, medical, simulation). I’m just saying that when the commercial VR hype train comes to a halt, which it’s almost doing, what’s really coming to a halt is not VR itself but the artificial hype largely puffed up around Oculus’ oversold excitement. (VC’s, executives, media, us? I don’t know where the mania came from, but it’s not healthy). I don’t have any dislike for Oculus, but we forget that Oculus spawned organically as a Kickstarter. Prior to all devs overnight concluding that profitability was paramount and projecting ROIs, and timelines within a nascent industry. VR had a promising (experimental) future before it suddenly had a disappointing (commercial) future. Only time will naturally turn one into the other.

        • NooYawker

          VR was a concept for 30 years. It’s growing now because there are actually commercially available VR devices. I don’t understand why people talk about VR like it’s been on the market for years.
          And no, VR doesn’t need Facebook creating it’s walled garden around the PC. They aren’t hindering anything but VR will grow with or without Oculus trying to create exclusives for a device run on a PC.
          VR will grow and will continue to grow as most developers choose to develop for Steam, the platform of choice for gamers. The ones that develop exclusives for Oculus are paid off to do so.

          • M0rdresh

            It’s difficult to analyse where the industry would be without Oculus never having existed, as well as what kind of influence some of their quality VR games have. I think the VR wagon is being pulled by multiple companies, Oculus being an undismissable part if you ask me.

    • wheeler

      Couldn’t have said it better myself and agree with everything (for the PC at least where a VR system is a peripheral). Maybe FB’s investments will succeed in kickstarting VR–e.g. with the $400 Rift. Or maybe their shareholders will eventually get fed up with the money pit and the stimulus will fail. Either way passionate indie devs will continue hacking away at games at a scale appropriate for the market. Occasional gems like Onward will draw in more users and gradually expand the market, similar to the early days of PC gaming.

      It’s why even after I show people VR and they’re blown away by it, I still caution them about purchasing a system. If they’re the type that’s looking for a console-like experience, I tell them to wait. If they’re the type that’s more adventurous or the type that enjoys the early days of hacking around with a new medium (e.g. older PC gamer types), I say go for it. Maybe certain highly leveraged or subsidy dependent devs hate this kind of mentality but IMO things will be just fine if VR grows at a natural pace.

    • M0rdresh

      And yet, as a HTC Vive and Oculus Rift owner about 70% of my top 10 VR games are games that are Oculus funded. It is very difficult for a developer to experiment with VR and even achieve break-even , let alone profit, while I have my reservations on exclusivity, I think Oculus injecting money into developers to achieve some high quality VR games is helping the industry. I do not agree on the rationale that this all should be left to organic growth and see what gives.

    • Raphael

      Yup, exactly right. VR is an inevitable technology and has only ever been on an upward development curve and falling cost curve.

  • A bad news for all the little indies… since Oculus attention is shifted to higher quality games…

    • Kris Bunch

      There will always be a place for the indies, just like in regular PC gaming. Right now in VR indies do have a chance to sell Oculus / FB on a great concept and get funding… and then become more than an indie development house.

  • Steve

    He is AAA-hole corporate suck-up that screws the little guys. When any small company submits working prototypes or even finished products to him, he and is so-called team arrogantly tells them to get lost. He’s part of a very rude corporate culture!

    • Who?

      • Firestorm185

        yeah, I was wondering that too…

        • Dan

          The voices in his head.

          • Firestorm185

            xD

  • Steam is a pathetic VR storefront and barely any VR games are seen.

    There needs to be a VR tab on the main page.

    Best way to find VR games on Steam is to go to another store

    Or go to Oculus, find game and type it in search on Steam.

  • Gerald Terveen

    – I want to know what the games are.
    – I want to know a number, not “multiple” … two would be multiple
    – I want to know if they made the million through sales or because Oculus gave them money to make the game (exclusive).

    We already knew of a couple of titles that likely have made that much money from the Steam stats. Now that there are some on Oculus too is not that surprising. But without details it is worth even less than the guesswork done on Steam stats.

  • flamaest

    Boy, a whole $1 million per game.. stop the presses.. this is chump change people, call me when they have made 5-10-20 MM each.

    • benz145

      VR will take time to grow, we won’t hit those scales all of the sudden; developers need to build games and need a userbase from which to make some profit so that they can reinvest that profit into a bigger production. The point is that if you can make a good VR game for the Rift, $1 million revenue is not out of the question (and potentially even more if you’re successful on SteamVR too), which is much greater than you could expect to make from the VR market just a short while ago.

      This is a milestone, and it will hopefully grow over time to the figures you’re saying are important. In fact, it’s quite exciting to know that Job Simulator passed $3 million in revenue now a while back:

      https://www.roadtovr.com/job-simulator-surpasses-3-million-sales-becoming-popular-vr-title-date/

      It’s all good news; the VR market is starting to coalesce into something that can support developers, and if the cycle continues it’ll keep growing larger and larger until top tier developers are looking at it as an important part of their business.

  • So from “multiple” we’re now to 4???? It’s ridiculous… why hasn’t he said 4 since the beginning??

  • Zachary Scott Dickerson

    Yikes, that’s terrible money for gaming industry nowadays. I buy as many Vive games as I can, but maybe just not enough people to make money from yet. Please just give me Skyrim for Vive and I will not even care if another game ever comes out.

    • MosBen

      It depends on the size of the team. It’s not great money for a game from Rockstar, but for a small indie team (and I would suspect that at least some of those titles are from smaller teams).