11% of consumers are thinking of buying a VR headset

Research firm Newzoo has said that plenty of consumers are considering forking out for a VR headset.

VentureBeat reports that Newzoo data shows that throughout the Western markets, 11 per cent of people with an internet connection and who are between the ages of 10 and 65 are considering buying a virtual reality device.

Of those, eSports fans represent the biggest chunk – 63 per cent of those interested. The positive interest can either be for a top-end headset like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, or instead something more affordable such as Samsung’s Gear VR.

Furthermore, Newzoo suggests that VR platform holders should most definitely be targeting those who have already spent high amounts on their gaming. For instance, among those who plan to buy VR, 72 per cent own a gaming keyboard and 69 per cent a gaming mouse.

The numbers do of course mean that 89 per cent of people either don’t want one (or can’t afford one), are undecided or simply have no knowledge of the market.

Game software revenues from VR will remain marginal for the near future and be absorbed into current PC, console, and mobile game revenues,” Newzoo founder and chief executive Peter Warman said.

We will leave guestimates on the future size of the total VR market in revenues to the experts in hardware and online retail sales. We are specialists in game revenues and gamer behaviour. Hence, our effort is to research and report on VR from a consumer perspective because ultimately, in the long-term, VR and [augmented reality] will change how consumers communicate and interact with content.”

SuperData earlier this month said that just 28 per cent of Americans have heard of PlayStation VR. And that’s ahead of Oculus Rift (22%), Samsung Gear VR (21%) and HTC Vive (5%).

It also predicted that gamers will account for 78 per cent of VR revenue in 2016, although by 2020 this will fall to 28 per cent.